Which to use
“crouch” is a verb and “crutch” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,598
- “crouch” frequency rank
- #32,752
- “crutch” frequency rank
- 53350
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crouch | crutch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bend down; to stoop low; to stand close to the ground with legs bent, like an animal when waiting for prey, or someone in fear. | A device to assist in motion as a cane, especially one that provides support under the arm to reduce weight on a leg. |
Where the eye mixes crouch and crutch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. crouch (CCVVCC) and crutch (CCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses crouch with crutch
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crouch is /kɹaʊt͡ʃ/ while crutch is /kɹʌt͡ʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crouch is recorded at frequency rank #20,598, classified as averb, pronounced /kɹaʊt͡ʃ/. crutch is at rank #32,752, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹʌt͡ʃ/.
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 53350, this pair ranks #149,721 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crouch vs crutch
Shared letters: chru. Private to "crouch": o. Private to "crutch": t.
"crouch" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "crutch" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crouch" for "crutch" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crouch" vs "crutch" - 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 "crouch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crutch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #149,721 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crouch" and "crutch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crouch vs crouched". 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 #149,721 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.