# crisp

> English word · Adjective · IPA /kɹɪsp/ · frequency rank #11,193

## Definitions
1. Senses relating to curliness.
2. Senses relating to curliness.
3. Senses relating to curliness.
4. Senses relating to curliness.
5. Senses relating to brittleness.
6. Senses relating to brittleness.
7. Senses relating to brittleness.
8. Senses relating to brittleness.
9. Senses relating to brittleness.
10. Senses relating to brittleness.
11. Senses relating to brittleness.
12. Senses relating to brittleness.

## Etymology
The adjective is derived partly from the following:
* Etymology 1 sense 1: Middle English crisp (“curly, wavy”), from Old English crisp (“curly”), from Latin crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kris-, from *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”).
* Etymology 1 sense 2: from the above, and probably also onomatopoeic, representing a crinkling or crunching sound.
Doublet of crape and crepe.
Adjective etymology 1 sense 2.2.3 (“of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry”) is transferred from a description of frost or snow as “crisp”, that is, crunchy.
The noun is derived partly from the following:
* Middle English crisp (“light, crinkled fabric; kind of pastry; crinkliness or roughness of skin”), from crisp (adjective) (see above).
* Modern English crisp (adjective) (“having a consistency which is hard yet brittle”).

## Easily confused with
- **CRS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crs)
- **CSP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-csp)
- **crop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crop)
- **cusp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-cusp)
- **crit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crit)
- **cross** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-cross)
- **crush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crush)
- **crust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crust)
- **crump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crump)
- **Crist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crist)
- **cruise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-cruise)
- **crispy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crispy)
- **crisps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crisps)
- **Cristo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-cristo)
- **CRISPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crispr)
- **Crispin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crisp-vs-crispin)
- **cis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cis-vs-crisp)
- **CRI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cri-vs-crisp)
- **CIP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cip-vs-crisp)
- **crap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crap-vs-crisp)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccrisp`, `cirsp`, `crips`, `crispp`, `crissp`, `crrisp`, `crsip`, `rcisp`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/crisp