Which to use
“crime” and “crises” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,362
- “crime” frequency rank
- #13,492
- “crises” frequency rank
- 14854
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crime | crises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law. | plural of crisis |
Where the eye mixes crime and crises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses crime with crises
A purely visual mix-up. crime (/kɹaɪm/) and crises (/ˈkɹaɪsiz/) 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 14854, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crime is recorded at frequency rank #1,362, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹaɪm/. crises is at rank #13,492, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹaɪsiz/.
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 14854, this pair ranks #467,570 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crime vs crises
Shared letters: ceir. Private to "crime": m. Private to "crises": s.
"crime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "crises" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crime" and "crises" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "crime" vs "crises" - which ranks higher?
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 "crime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #467,570 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crime" and "crises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crises 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 #467,570 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.