Which to use
“cops” and “cross” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,241
- “cops” frequency rank
- #8,369
- “cross” frequency rank
- 47610
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cops | cross |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enroulement de fils sur un tube cylindrique ou cylindro-conique. | Sorte de course à pied hors route. |
Where the eye mixes cops and cross
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cops with cross
A purely visual mix-up. cops (\kɔps\) and cross (\kʁɔs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cops is recorded at frequency rank #39,241, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔps\. cross is at rank #8,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɔs\.
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 47610, this pair ranks #185,586 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cops vs cross
Shared letters: cos. Private to "cops": p. Private to "cross": r.
"cops" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cops" and "cross" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cops" vs "cross" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cops" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cross" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #185,586 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cops" and "cross" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cops vs coupa". 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 #185,586 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.