crisis

/ˈkɹaɪsɪs/

//ˈkɹaɪsɪs// noun

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

"crisis" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“crisis” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,384. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,384
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.

Corpus desk

Index EN-crisis · crisis · English

crisis · rank #2,384 · 9 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,384
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cream

Nearest frequency peer: cream (-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 “crisis”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “crisis” 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).

crisis vs cross
67% similar
crisis vs crisp
67% similar
crisis vs Crist
50% similar

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

Key facts for crisis
PropertyValue
Headwordcrisis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɹaɪsɪs/
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,384
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “crisis”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).crisislands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “cream” (#2,383), “Daniel” (#2,385), “charged” (#2,382). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “crisis” is #2,384. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around crisis (IPA /ˈkɹaɪsɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,384 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for crisis, with forms such as "ccrisis", "cirsis", and "criiss". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "cross", "crisp", "Crist", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). The correct English form is crisis, spelled C-R-I-S-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
  2. 2
    An unstable situation, in political, social, economic or military affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change.
  3. 3
    A sudden change in the course of a disease, usually at which point the patient is expected to either recover or die.
  4. 4
    A traumatic or stressful change in a person's life.
  5. 5
    A point in a drama at which a conflict reaches a peak before being resolved.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The financial crisis could have been avoided and was the result of poor decision making both in Washington and at top financial firms that fostered a culture of excessive risk taking, according to a draft report written by Democrats on a panel that investigated the meltdown and obtained by Reuters.
  2. The big question, I believe, is whether the Italian and maybe Spanish crises are the kind of thing that might be brought under control by ECB bond purchases. This is often phrased in terms of whether they are facing liquidity or solvency problems; but I think it’s better phrased in terms of the possibility of self-fulfilling crises, a la Obstfeld. […] So…

Etymology

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”).

This word in other languages

crisis(Español)crise(Français)Krise(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccrisis
  • cirsis
  • criiss
  • crisiss
  • crissi
  • crissis
  • crrisis
  • crsiis
  • rcisis

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of crisis - 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.

ccrisis1cirsis2criiss2crisiss1crissi2crissis1crrisis1crsiis2
Edit distance from "crisis"

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 "crisis"?
"crisis" is spelled C-R-I-S-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɹaɪsɪs/.
What does "crisis" mean?
As a noun, "crisis" means: A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
What words are commonly confused with "crisis"?
"crisis" is commonly confused with "cross", "crisp", "Crist". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crisis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crisis" is /ˈkɹaɪsɪs/. 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 "crisis"?
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”). 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 "crisis", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Daniel#2,385editor#2,387begins#2,380vision#2,374

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

stores9 variantsopposite9 variantsscored9 variantssignal9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list