Which to use
“cross” and “crown” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,073
- “cross” frequency rank
- #2,665
- “crown” frequency rank
- 3738
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cross | crown |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem. |
Where the eye mixes cross and crown
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cross and crown
A purely visual mix-up. cross (/kɹɒs/) and crown (/kɹaʊn/) 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 3738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cross is recorded at frequency rank #1,073, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹɒs/. crown is at rank #2,665, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹaʊn/.
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 3738, this pair ranks #521,144 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cross vs crown
Shared letters: cor. Private to "cross": s. Private to "crown": nw.
"cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crown" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cross" and "crown" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cross" or "crown"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cross" and "crown" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cross" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crown" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,144 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cross" and "crown" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Croat vs crown". 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 #521,144 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.