Which to use
“crème” and “crimes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,191
- “crème” frequency rank
- #2,916
- “crimes” frequency rank
- 6107
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crème | crimes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie la plus grasse du lait, avec laquelle on fait le beurre. | Pluriel de crime. |
Where the eye mixes crème and crimes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. crème runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against crimes's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: crème vs crimes
A purely visual mix-up. crème (\kʁɛm\) and crimes (\kʁim\) 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 6107, 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\. crimes is at rank #2,916, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁim\.
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 6107, this pair ranks #427,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crème vs crimes
Shared letters: cemr. Private to "crème": è. Private to "crimes": is.
"crème" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "crimes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- crimes ← ccrimes · cirmes · criems · crimess · crimmes · crimse · crmies · crrimes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "crème" and "crimes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "crème" vs "crimes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "crème" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crimes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #427,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crème" and "crimes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cese vs crème". 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 #427,155 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.