Which to use
“cru” and “cup” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,193
- “cru” frequency rank
- #805
- “cup” frequency rank
- 40998
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cru | cup |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A vineyard or group of vineyards in France, especially one having a high reputation. | A concave vessel for drinking, usually made of opaque material (as opposed to a glass) and with a handle. |
Where the eye mixes cru and cup
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cru and cup
A purely visual mix-up. cru (/kɹuː/) and cup (/kʌp/) 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 40998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cru is recorded at frequency rank #40,193, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹuː/. cup is at rank #805, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌp/.
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 40998, this pair ranks #262,470 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cru vs cup
Shared letters: cu. Private to "cru": r. Private to "cup": p.
"cru" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "cup" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cru" for "cup" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "cru" or "cup" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cru" and "cup" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cru" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cup" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,470 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cru" and "cup" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cru". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #262,470 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.