# craze

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɹeɪz/ · frequency rank #18,283

## Definitions
1. A strong habitual desire or fancy.
2. A temporary passion or infatuation, as for some new amusement, pursuit, or fashion; a fad.
3. A crack in the glaze or enamel caused by exposure of the pottery to great or irregular heat.
4. Craziness; insanity.

## Etymology
From Middle English crasen (“to crush, break, break to pieces, shatter, craze”), from Old Norse *krasa (“to shatter”), ultimately imitative.
Cognate with Scots krass (“to crush, squeeze, wrinkle”), Icelandic krasa (“to crackle”), Norwegian krasa (“to shatter, crush”), Swedish krasa (“to crack, crackle”), Danish krase (“to crack, crackle”), Faroese kras (“small pieces”).

## Easily confused with
- **Cruz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-cruz)
- **Cree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-cree)
- **crazy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crazy)
- **crime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crime)
- **crude** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crude)
- **crore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crore)
- **Crete** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crete)
- **Crewe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crewe)
- **crème** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-creme)
- **Croke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-croke)
- **crone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crone)
- **create** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-create)
- **crease** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crease)
- **crazed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-crazed)
- **curate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/craze-vs-curate)
- **care** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/care-vs-craze)
- **case** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/case-vs-craze)
- **came** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/came-vs-craze)
- **cake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cake-vs-craze)
- **crap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crap-vs-craze)

## Common misspellings (7)
`carze`, `ccraze`, `craez`, `crazze`, `crraze`, `crzae`, `rcaze`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/craze