Which to use
“crisis” and “cross” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,384
- “crisis” frequency rank
- #1,073
- “cross” frequency rank
- 3457
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crisis | cross |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point. | A geometrical figure consisting of two straight lines or bars intersecting each other such that at least one of them is bisected by the other. |
Where the eye mixes crisis and cross
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. crisis (/ˈkɹaɪsɪs/) and cross (/kɹɒs/) 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 3457, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crisis is recorded at frequency rank #2,384, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹaɪsɪs/. cross is at rank #1,073, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹɒs/.
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 3457, this pair ranks #522,049 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crisis vs cross
Shared letters: crs. Private to "crisis": i. Private to "cross": o.
"crisis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC