cratevscroneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“crate” and “crone” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,594
“crate” frequency rank
#47,002
“crone” frequency rank
62596
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crate crone
Definition A large open box or basket, used especially to transport fragile goods. An old woman.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set crate and crone apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
crate
5 ch
crone

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. crate (/kɹeɪt/) and crone (/kɹoʊn/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

crate is recorded at frequency rank #15,594, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹeɪt/. crone is at rank #47,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹoʊn/.

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 62596, this pair ranks #87,608 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of crate vs crone

Shared letters: cer. Private to "crate": at. Private to "crone": no.

"crate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "crone" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • crateccrate · craet · cratte · crrate · crtae · rcate
  • croneccrone · corne · crnoe · croen · cronne · crrone · rcone

Frequency comparison

crate#15,594
crone#47,002

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "crate" and "crone" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɹeɪt/ versus /kɹoʊn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "crate" or "crone"?
"crate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,594 in our English list, against #47,002 for "crone". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering crate vs crone

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “crate” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list