Which to use
“crosses” and “crushes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,775
- “crosses” frequency rank
- #23,796
- “crushes” frequency rank
- 32571
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crosses | crushes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cross | plural of crush |
Where the eye mixes crosses and crushes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. crosses and crushes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: crosses vs crushes
A purely visual mix-up. crosses (/ˈkɹɔsɪz/) and crushes (/ˈkɹʌʃɪz/) 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 32571, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crosses is recorded at frequency rank #8,775, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹɔsɪz/. crushes is at rank #23,796, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹʌʃɪz/.
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 32571, this pair ranks #336,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crosses vs crushes
Shared letters: cers. Private to "crosses": o. Private to "crushes": hu.
"crosses" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "crushes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crosses" for "crushes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crosses" vs "crushes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "crosses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crushes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #336,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crosses" and "crushes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crushes vs crusted". 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 #336,658 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.