Which to use
“cruces” and “cruises” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,405
- “cruces” frequency rank
- #16,675
- “cruises” frequency rank
- 63080
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cruces | cruises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of crux | plural of cruise |
Where the eye mixes cruces and cruises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cruces runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against cruises's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cruces with cruises
A purely visual mix-up. cruces (/ˈkɹu.siz/) and cruises (/ˈkɹuːzɪz/) 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 63080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cruces is recorded at frequency rank #46,405, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹu.siz/. cruises is at rank #16,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹuːzɪz/.
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 63080, this pair ranks #84,993 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cruces vs cruises
Shared letters: cersu. Private to "cruces": -. Private to "cruises": i.
"cruces" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cruises" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cruces" for "cruises" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cruces" vs "cruises" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cruces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cruises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #84,993 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cruces" and "cruises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cruces vs crusts". 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 #84,993 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.