Which to use
“cry” is a verb and “crypt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,525
- “cry” frequency rank
- #25,342
- “crypt” frequency rank
- 27867
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cry | crypt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To shed tears; to weep, especially in anger or sadness. | A cave or cavern. |
Where the eye mixes cry and crypt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cry and crypt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cry is /kɹaɪ/ while crypt is /kɹɪpt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cry” sits inside “crypt”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cry is recorded at frequency rank #2,525, classified as averb, pronounced /kɹaɪ/. crypt is at rank #25,342, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹɪpt/.
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 27867, this pair ranks #375,482 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cry vs crypt
Shared letters: cry. Private to "cry": -. Private to "crypt": pt.
"cry" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "crypt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- crypt ← ccrypt · crpyt · crrypt · cryppt · cryptt · crytp · cryypt · cyrpt
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cry" and "crypt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cry" or "crypt"?
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 "cry" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crypt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #375,482 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cry" and "crypt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Croat vs crypt". 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 #375,482 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.