crime

/kɹaɪm/

//kɹaɪm// noun

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

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

The verdict

“crime” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,362. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,362
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law.

Corpus desk

Index EN-crime · crime · English

crime · rank #1,362 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,362
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cars

Nearest frequency peer: cars (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “crime”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “crime” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

crime vs CRM
0% similar
crime vs Cris
40% similar
crime vs crit
60% similar

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

Key facts for crime
PropertyValue
Headwordcrime
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹaɪm/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,362
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “crime”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “cars” (#1,361), “effective” (#1,363), “carry” (#1,360). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “crime” is #1,362. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around crime (IPA /kɹaɪm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,362 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for crime, with forms such as "ccrime", "cirme", and "criem". 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, "CRM", "Cris", "crit", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cryme, crime, from Old French crime, crimne, from Latin crīmen. Displaced native Old English firen. The correct English form is crime, spelled C-R-I-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law.
  2. 2
    Any great sin or wickedness; iniquity.
  3. 3
    That which occasions crime.
  4. 4
    Criminal acts collectively.
  5. 5
    The habit or practice of committing crimes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. the commission of a crime
  2. The generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, can be duped into providing detailed advice on how to commit crimes — ranging from money laundering to the export of weapons to sanctioned countries — a tech startup found.

Etymology

From Middle English cryme, crime, from Old French crime, crimne, from Latin crīmen. Displaced native Old English firen.

Synonyms

crimecriminal offencecriminalitydelinquencymalefactionperpetrationunlawunlawfulness

Antonyms

noncrime

This word in other languages

delito(Español)délinquer(Français)Straftat(Deutsch)crime(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccrime
  • cirme
  • criem
  • crimme
  • crmie
  • crrime
  • rcime

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of crime - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccrime1cirme2criem2crimme1crmie2crrime1rcime2
Edit distance from "crime"

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 "crime"?
"crime" is spelled C-R-I-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹaɪm/.
What does "crime" mean?
As a noun, "crime" means: A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law.
What words are commonly confused with "crime"?
"crime" is commonly confused with "CRM", "Cris", "crit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crime"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crime" is /kɹaɪm/. 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 "crime"?
From Middle English cryme, crime, from Old French crime, crimne, from Latin crīmen. Displaced native Old English firen. 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 "crime", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

carry#1,360basic#1,358fully#1,366Japan#1,369

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Texas7 variantsworse7 variantsaward7 variantsfeels7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list