Which to use
“cribs” and “crime” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,067
- “cribs” frequency rank
- #1,362
- “crime” frequency rank
- 42429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cribs | crime |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of crib | A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law. |
Where the eye mixes cribs and crime
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cribs (CCVCC) and crime (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between cribs and crime
A purely visual mix-up. cribs (/kɹɪbz/) and crime (/kɹaɪm/) 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 42429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cribs is recorded at frequency rank #41,067, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹɪbz/. crime is at rank #1,362, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹaɪm/.
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 42429, this pair ranks #249,282 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cribs vs crime
Shared letters: cir. Private to "cribs": bs. Private to "crime": em.
"cribs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cribs" and "crime" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cribs" vs "crime" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cribs" and "crime" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cribs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crime" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #249,282 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cribs" and "crime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cribs vs Crist". 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 #249,282 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.