Which to use
“crass” is an adjective and “cuss” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,381
- “crass” frequency rank
- #35,674
- “cuss” frequency rank
- 66055
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crass | cuss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Coarse; crude; unrefined or insensitive; lacking discrimination or taste. | To use cursing, to use bad language, to speak profanely. |
Where the eye mixes crass and cuss
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. crass runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against cuss's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses crass with cuss
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crass is /kɹæs/ while cuss is /kʌs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crass is recorded at frequency rank #30,381, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɹæs/. cuss is at rank #35,674, tagged as averb, pronounced /kʌs/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 66055, this pair ranks #69,844 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of crass vs cuss
Shared letters: cs. Private to "crass": ar. Private to "cuss": u.
"crass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "cuss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crass" for "cuss" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "crass" or "cuss" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "crass" and "cuss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "crass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,844 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crass" and "cuss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuny vs cuss". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #69,844 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.