crevasse

/kɹəˈvæs/

//kɹəˈvæs// noun

"crevasse" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“crevasse” is uncommon English (frequency #61,393 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,393
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A crack or fissure in a glacier or snowfield; a chasm.

Corpus desk

Index EN-crevasse · crevasse · English

crevasse · rank #61,393 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,393
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Crayola

Nearest frequency peer: Crayola (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “crevasse”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “crevasse” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for crevasse
PropertyValue
Headwordcrevasse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹəˈvæs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#61,393
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “crevasse” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).crevassefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Crayola” (#61,392), “crooner” (#61,394), “crosstalk” (#61,395). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “crevasse” is #61,393. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

crevasse is uncommon English at frequency #61,393 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɹəˈvæs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for crevasse in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French crevasse. Doublet of crevice. The correct English form is crevasse, spelled C-R-E-V-A-S-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A crack or fissure in a glacier or snowfield; a chasm.
  2. 2
    A breach in a canal or river bank.
  3. 3
    Any cleft or fissure.
  4. 4
    A discontinuity or “gap” between the accounted variables and an observed outcome.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I moved my left hand to the small of her back, just above her belt-line and stroked the peach fuzz in her crevasse with my fingers.
  2. […] he laments that he can find no physiological phenomenon answering to his subject’s winning a race, or losing it. Between his terminal output of energy and his victory or defeat there is a mysterious crevasse. Physiology is baffled.

Etymology

From French crevasse. Doublet of crevice.

This word in other languages

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 "crevasse"?
"crevasse" is spelled C-R-E-V-A-S-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹəˈvæs/.
What does "crevasse" mean?
As a noun, "crevasse" means: A crack or fissure in a glacier or snowfield; a chasm.
How do you pronounce "crevasse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crevasse" is /kɹəˈvæs/. 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 "crevasse"?
From French crevasse. Doublet of crevice. 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 "crevasse", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list