Which to use
“crème” and “crue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,191
- “crème” frequency rank
- #9,300
- “crue” frequency rank
- 12491
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crème | crue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie la plus grasse du lait, avec laquelle on fait le beurre. | Augmentation temporaire et généralement rapide du débit ou du niveau d’un cours d’eau, liée aux précipitations, à la fonte des neiges ou à d’autres apports. |
Where the eye mixes crème and crue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. crème runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against crue's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: crème vs crue
A purely visual mix-up. crème (\kʁɛm\) and crue (\kʁy\) 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 12491, 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\. crue is at rank #9,300, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁy\.
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 12491, this pair ranks #405,050 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crème vs crue
Shared letters: cer. Private to "crème": mè. Private to "crue": u.
"crème" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "crue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- crue ← ccrue · creu · crrue · rcue
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crème" and "crue" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "crème" or "crue"?
What to do next
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 "crue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,050 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crème" and "crue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs crue". 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 #405,050 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.