Which to use
“crabes” and “crêpes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,585
- “crabes” frequency rank
- #12,757
- “crêpes” frequency rank
- 34342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crabes | crêpes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de crabe. | Pluriel de crêpe, sorte d’étoffe. |
Where the eye mixes crabes and crêpes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses crabes with crêpes
A purely visual mix-up. crabes (\kʁab\) and crêpes (\kʁɛp\) 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 34342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crabes is recorded at frequency rank #21,585, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁab\. crêpes is at rank #12,757, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛp\.
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 34342, this pair ranks #284,501 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crabes vs crêpes
Shared letters: cers. Private to "crabes": ab. Private to "crêpes": pê.
"crabes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "crêpes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- crabes ← carbes · ccrabes · crabbes · crabess · crabse · craebs · crbaes · crrabes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crabes" and "crêpes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "crabes" or "crêpes"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "crabes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crêpes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #284,501 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crabes" and "crêpes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cakes vs crabes". 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 #284,501 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.