crass

/kɹæs/

//kɹæs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"crass" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“crass” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #30,381) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#30,381
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Coarse; crude; unrefined or insensitive; lacking discrimination or taste.

Corpus desk

Index EN-crass · crass · English

crass · rank #30,381 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,381
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Crabtree

Nearest frequency peer: Crabtree (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “crass”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “crass” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

crass vs CSS
0% similar
crass vs CRS
0% similar
crass vs cray
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for crass
PropertyValue
Headwordcrass
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/kɹæs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#30,381
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “crass”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).crasslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Crabtree” (#30,380), “Crewe” (#30,382), “contented” (#30,378). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “crass” is #30,381. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for crass is neighbouring look-alikes ("CSS", "CRS", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /kɹæs/. Frequency #30,381 among 5,599 “C” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for crass, with forms such as "ccrass", "crrass", and "crsas". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CSS", "CRS", "cray", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cras, craas, from Old French cras, from Latin crassus (“dense, thick, gross, fat, heavy”). Doublet of grease. The correct English form is crass, spelled C-R-A-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Coarse; crude; unrefined or insensitive; lacking discrimination or taste.
  2. 2
    Materialistic.
  3. 3
    Physically dense or thick.
  4. 4
    Lacking finesse; crude and obvious.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how crass appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. You guys would rather be with someone else who’s equal to your status in life. Tiger Woods, or somebody. I comes across as crass, a Neanderthal, a babbling idiot sometimes. I like to show you that person. I like that person.
  2. 8. They require that crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader as “the craft of the woodsman, the delicate art of the forest,” by either the author or the people in the tale.

Etymology

From Middle English cras, craas, from Old French cras, from Latin crassus (“dense, thick, gross, fat, heavy”). Doublet of grease.

This word in other languages

craso(Español)grossier(Français)krass(Deutsch)crasso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccrass
  • crrass
  • crsas
  • rcass

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of crass - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccrass1crrass1crsas2rcass2
Edit distance from "crass"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "crass"?
"crass" is spelled C-R-A-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹæs/.
What does "crass" mean?
As an adjective, "crass" means: Coarse; crude; unrefined or insensitive; lacking discrimination or taste.
What words are commonly confused with "crass"?
"crass" is commonly confused with "CSS", "CRS", "cray". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crass"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crass" is /kɹæs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "crass"?
From Middle English cras, craas, from Old French cras, from Latin crassus (“dense, thick, gross, fat, heavy”). Doublet of grease. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "crass", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Crewe#30,382Cymru#30,386chasm#30,360Dolby#30,402

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list