Which to use
“crème” and “crim” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,191
- “crème” frequency rank
- #37,259
- “crim” frequency rank
- 40450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crème | crim |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie la plus grasse du lait, avec laquelle on fait le beurre. | Criminel. |
Where the eye mixes crème and crim
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. crème runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against crim's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between crème and crim
A purely visual mix-up. crème (\kʁɛm\) and crim (\kɹɪm\) 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 40450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crème is recorded at frequency rank #3,191, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛm\. crim is at rank #37,259, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɹɪm\.
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 40450, this pair ranks #240,407 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crème vs crim
Shared letters: cmr. Private to "crème": eè. Private to "crim": i.
"crème" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "crim" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- crim ← ccrim · cirm · crimm · crmi · crrim · rcim
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crème" for "crim" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crème" vs "crim" - which ranks higher?
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 "crème" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,407 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crème" and "crim" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CIP vs crim". 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 #240,407 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.