croire

\kʁwaʁ\

/\kʁwaʁ\/ verb

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

The verdict

“croire” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #579 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#579
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tenir pour véritable.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

croire vs crois
67% similar
croire vs croix
67% similar
croire vs cuire
67% similar

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

Key facts for croire
PropertyValue
Headwordcroire
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\kʁwaʁ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#579
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “croire” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). croire lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for croire is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kʁwaʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #579 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for croire, with forms such as "ccroire", "corire", and "criore". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "crois", "croix", "cuire", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is croire, spelled C-R-O-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tenir pour véritable.
  2. 2
    Avoir la foi et recevoir avec soumission d’esprit tout ce que la religion enseigne.
  3. 3
    Tenir pour sincère ou véridique.
  4. 4
    S’en rapporter à quelqu’un, à quelque chose.
  5. 5
    Tenir pour vraisemblable, réel ou possible.
  6. 6
    Penser, estimer, s'imaginer, présumer.
  7. 7
    Croire naïvement, être trop optimiste.
  8. 8
    Ajouter foi à quelqu’un ou à quelque chose ; s’y fier.
  9. 9
    Avoir confiance en quelqu’un, en ses talents, en sa parole.
  10. 10
    S’imaginer.
  11. 11
    Être vaniteux.

This word in other languages

believe(English)creer(Español)glauben(Deutsch)crer(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccroire,corire,criore,croier,croirre,crorie,crroire,rcoire

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of croire - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccroire1corire2criore2croier2croirre1crorie2crroire1rcoire2
Edit distance from "croire"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "croire"?
"croire" is spelled C-R-O-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kʁwaʁ\.
What does "croire" mean?
As a verb, "croire" means: Tenir pour véritable.
What words are commonly confused with "croire"?
"croire" is commonly confused with "crois", "croix", "cuire". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "croire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "croire" is \kʁwaʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "croire" come from?
"croire" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “croire”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-R-O-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kʁwaʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “crois” - see the side-by-side comparison. croire vs crois
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list