criéevscriqueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“criée” and “crique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,260
“criée” frequency rank
#32,361
“crique” frequency rank
69621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature criée crique
Definition Proclamation pour annoncer la vente des biens en justice. Petite baie, partie du rivage qui forme dans les terres un enfoncement où de petits bateaux peuvent se mettre à l’abri.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set criée and crique apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
criée
6 ch
crique

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. criée (\kʁi.je\) and crique (\kʁik\) 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 69621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

criée is recorded at frequency rank #37,260, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁi.je\. crique is at rank #32,361, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁik\.

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 69621, this pair ranks #54,450 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of criée vs crique

Shared letters: ceir. Private to "criée": é. Private to "crique": qu.

"criée" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV  ·  "crique" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • criqueccrique · criqeu · criqque · criuqe · crqiue · crrique · rcique

Frequency comparison

criée#37,260
crique#32,361

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "criée" and "crique" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁi.je\ versus \kʁik\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "criée" or "crique"?
"crique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,361 in our French list, against #37,260 for "criée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering criée vs crique

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “criée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list