cremavscrimeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“crema” and “crime” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,087
“crema” frequency rank
#33,514
“crime” frequency rank
38601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crema crime
Definition Parte lipídica de la leche, que se separa de ésta por centrifugado u otro medio para su consumo en diversas preparaciones. Crimen.

Where the eye mixes crema and crime

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
crema
5 ch
crime

Visual trap between crema and crime

A purely visual mix-up. crema ([ˈkɾema]) and crime (/kʁim/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

crema is recorded at frequency rank #5,087, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɾema]. crime is at rank #33,514, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʁim/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 38601, this pair ranks #169,115 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of crema vs crime

Shared letters: cemr. Private to "crema": a. Private to "crime": i.

"crema" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "crime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cremaccrema · cerma · cremma · crmea · crrema · rcema
  • crimeccrime · cirme · criem · crimme · crmie · crrime · rcime

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "crema" and "crime" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɾema] versus /kʁim/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "crema" vs "crime" - which ranks higher?
"crema" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,087 in our Spanish list, against #33,514 for "crime". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "crema" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "crime" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #169,115 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "crema" and "crime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comme vs crime". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #169,115 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list