Which to use
“crimes” and “crisis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,916
- “crimes” frequency rank
- #36,787
- “crisis” frequency rank
- 39703
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crimes | crisis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de crime. | Crise. |
Where the eye mixes crimes and crisis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. crimes and crisis follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between crimes and crisis
A purely visual mix-up. crimes (\kʁim\) and crisis (\ˈkɹaɪ.sɪs\) 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 39703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crimes is recorded at frequency rank #2,916, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁim\. crisis is at rank #36,787, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈkɹaɪ.sɪs\.
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 39703, this pair ranks #246,005 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crimes vs crisis
Shared letters: cirs. Private to "crimes": em. Private to "crisis": -.
"crimes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "crisis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crimes" for "crisis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crimes" vs "crisis" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "crimes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crisis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #246,005 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crimes" and "crisis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crisis 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 #246,005 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.