Which to use
“cribs” and “crimes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,067
- “cribs” frequency rank
- #3,420
- “crimes” frequency rank
- 44487
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cribs | crimes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of crib | plural of crime |
Where the eye mixes cribs and crimes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cribs runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against crimes's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cribs vs crimes
A purely visual mix-up. cribs (/kɹɪbz/) and crimes (/kɹaɪmz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44487, 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/. crimes is at rank #3,420, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹaɪmz/.
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 44487, this pair ranks #230,067 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cribs vs crimes
Shared letters: cirs. Private to "cribs": b. Private to "crimes": em.
"cribs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crimes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cribs" and "crimes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cribs" or "crimes"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cribs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crimes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,067 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cribs" and "crimes" 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 #230,067 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.