Which to use
“crises” and “CRISPR” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,492
- “crises” frequency rank
- #44,144
- “CRISPR” frequency rank
- 57636
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crises | CRISPR |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of crisis | Segments of bacteria and archaea DNA containing short repetitions of base sequences. |
Where the eye mixes crises and CRISPR
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses crises with CRISPR
A purely visual mix-up. crises (/ˈkɹaɪsiz/) and CRISPR (/ˈkrɪspər/) 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 57636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crises is recorded at frequency rank #13,492, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹaɪsiz/. CRISPR is at rank #44,144, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkrɪspər/.
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 57636, this pair ranks #118,016 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of crises vs CRISPR
Shared letters: cirs. Private to "crises": e. Private to "CRISPR": p.
"crises" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "CRISPR" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crises" and "CRISPR" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "crises" vs "CRISPR" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "crises" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "CRISPR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,016 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crises" and "CRISPR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CRISPR 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 #118,016 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.