crisis
/ˈkɹaɪsɪs/noun
crisis is spelled C-R-I-S-I-S: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 42 times per million words in written English, the 2,392nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, crisis means “A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of crisis is crises.
How many letters and syllables are in crisis?
| Letters | 6: C-R-I-S-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 42 times per million words; the 2,392nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is crisis?
Crisis appears 42 times per million words in written English, the 2,392nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce crisis?
- US /ˈkɹaɪsɪs/
- Australia /ˈkɹɑesɪs/
- /ˈkɹaɪsəs/
Crisis has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-crisis.wav, En-us-crisis.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of crisis
- crises plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crisis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
- 2
An unstable situation, in political, social, economic or military affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change.
- 3
A sudden change in the course of a disease, usually at which point the patient is expected to either recover or die.
- 4
A traumatic or stressful change in a person's life.
I'm having a major crisis trying to wallpaper the living room.
- 5
A point in a drama at which a conflict reaches a peak before being resolved.
- 6
Orgasm
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crisis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Krise |
| Portuguese | crise , crise dramática |
| Spanish | crisis |
| French | crise |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does crisis come from?
From Latin crisis, from Ancient Greek κρίσις (krísis, “a separating, power of distinguishing, decision, choice, election, judgment, dispute”), from κρίνω (krínō, “pick out, choose, decide, judge”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).