criarvscrimeConfusable pair

Quick tell: criar is a verb, crime is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“criar” is a verb and “crime” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,791
“criar” frequency rank
#33,514
“crime” frequency rank
46305
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature criar crime
Definition Producir algo de la nada. Crimen.

Where the eye mixes criar and crime

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. criar (CCVVC) and crime (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
criar
5 ch
crime

Look-alike desk: criar vs crime

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: criar is [ˈkɾjaɾ] while crime is /kʁim/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

criar is recorded at frequency rank #12,791, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɾjaɾ]. 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 46305, this pair ranks #126,486 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of criar vs crime

Shared letters: cir. Private to "criar": a. Private to "crime": em.

"criar" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "crime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • criar ← ccriar · cirar · crair · criarr · crira · crriar · rciar
  • crime ← ccrime · cirme · criem · crimme · crmie · crrime · rcime

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "criar" for "crime" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "criar" is a verb and "crime" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "criar" vs "crime" - which ranks higher?
"criar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,791 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.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "criar" and "crime" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "criar" 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 #126,486 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "criar" 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 #126,486 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