Which to use
“crème” and “crise” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,191
- “crème” frequency rank
- #1,109
- “crise” frequency rank
- 4300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crème | crise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie la plus grasse du lait, avec laquelle on fait le beurre. | Changement en bien ou en mal qui survient dans le cours d’une maladie et s’annonce par quelques phénomènes particuliers, comme une excrétion abondante, une hémorragie considérable, des sueurs, un dépôt dans les urines, etc. |
Where the eye mixes crème and crise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. crème and crise follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses crème with crise
A purely visual mix-up. crème (\kʁɛm\) and crise (\kʁiz\) 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 4300, 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\. crise is at rank #1,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁiz\.
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 4300, this pair ranks #431,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crème vs crise
Shared letters: cer. Private to "crème": mè. Private to "crise": is.
"crème" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "crise" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- crise ← ccrise · cirse · crrise · crsie · rcise
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crème" and "crise" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "crème" or "crise"?
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 "crise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crème" and "crise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crise vs cruiser". 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 #431,959 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.