Which to use
“crime” and “criss” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,907
- “crime” frequency rank
- #41,207
- “criss” frequency rank
- 43114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crime | criss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Infraction très grave, à la morale ou à la loi. | Poignard dont la lame est parfois en zigzag à l’usage des Malais. |
Where the eye mixes crime and criss
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. crime (CCVCV) and criss (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses crime with criss
A purely visual mix-up. crime (\kʁim\) and criss (\kʁis\) 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 43114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crime is recorded at frequency rank #1,907, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁim\. criss is at rank #41,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁis\.
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 43114, this pair ranks #220,499 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crime vs criss
Shared letters: cir. Private to "crime": em. Private to "criss": s.
"crime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "criss" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crime" for "criss" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crime" vs "criss" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "crime" and "criss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "crime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "criss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #220,499 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crime" and "criss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caïds vs criss". 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 #220,499 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.