Which to use
“cran” and “crayon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,304
- “cran” frequency rank
- #8,833
- “crayon” frequency rank
- 19137
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cran | crayon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Entaille qu’on fait à un corps dur pour accrocher ou arrêter quelque chose. | Morceau de bois cylindrique fin contenant une mine en son centre, taillé afin d’obtenir une pointe à l’extrémité et qui permet de dessiner, colorier ou écrire avec la main. |
Where the eye mixes cran and crayon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cran and crayon
A purely visual mix-up. cran (\kʁɑ̃\) and crayon (\kʁɛ.jɔ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cran is recorded at frequency rank #10,304, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁɑ̃\. crayon is at rank #8,833, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛ.jɔ̃\.
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 19137, this pair ranks #374,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cran vs crayon
Shared letters: acnr. Private to "cran": -. Private to "crayon": oy.
"cran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "crayon" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cran" for "crayon" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cran" or "crayon"?
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 "cran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crayon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #374,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cran" and "crayon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coon vs cran". 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 #374,786 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.