cream
/kɹiːm/
"cream" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cream” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,383 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,383
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The butterfat or milkfat part of milk which rises to the top; this part when separated from the remainder.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cream |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɹiːm/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #2,383 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cream” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cream is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɹiːm/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,383 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for cream, with forms such as "ccream", "ceram", and "craem". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CRM", "crew", "Cree", 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 creime, creme, from Old French creme, cresme, blend of Late Latin chrisma (“ointment”) (from Ancient Greek χρῖσμα (khrîsma, “unguent”)), and Late Latin crāmum (“cream”), from Gaulish *crama (compare Welsh cramen (“scab, skin”), Breton cr… The correct English form is cream, spelled C-R-E-A-M.
Definition
- 1The butterfat or milkfat part of milk which rises to the top; this part when separated from the remainder.
- 2The butterfat or milkfat part of milk which rises to the top; this part when separated from the remainder.
- 3The butterfat or milkfat part of milk which rises to the top; this part when separated from the remainder.
- 4The butterfat or milkfat part of milk which rises to the top; this part when separated from the remainder.
- 5A yellowish white color; the color of cream.
- 6Frosting, custard, creamer, or another substance similar to the oily part of milk or to whipped cream.
- 7A dish prepared through creaming, particularly cream of
- 8The best part of something.
- 9A viscous aqueous oil or fat emulsion with a medicament added, used to apply that medicament to the skin. (compare with ointment)
- 10Semen.
- 11The chrism or consecrated oil used in anointing ceremonies.
Etymology
From Middle English creime, creme, from Old French creme, cresme, blend of Late Latin chrisma (“ointment”) (from Ancient Greek χρῖσμα (khrîsma, “unguent”)), and Late Latin crāmum (“cream”), from Gaulish *crama (compare Welsh cramen (“scab, skin”), Breton crammen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krama- (compare Middle Irish screm (“surface, skin”), Dutch schram (“abrasion”), Lithuanian kramas (“scurf”)). Doublet of crema and crème. Displaced native Old English rēam (“cream”) (> modern ream). Figurative sense of "most excellent element or part" appears from 1581. Verb meaning "to beat, thrash, wreck" is 1929, U.S. colloquial. The U.S. standard of identity is from 21 CFR 131.3(a).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccream,ceram,craem,creamm,crema,crream,rceam
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cream - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "cream"?
What does "cream" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cream"?
How do you pronounce "cream"?
What is the origin of the word "cream"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cream”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-R-E-A-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɹiːm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “CRM” - see the side-by-side comparison. cream vs CRM
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.