crisesvscrissWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,854
“crises” frequency rank
#41,207
“criss” frequency rank
47061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crises criss
Definition Pluriel de crise. Poignard dont la lame est parfois en zigzag à l’usage des Malais.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set crises and criss apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
crises
5 ch
criss

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. crises (\kʁiz\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

crises is recorded at frequency rank #5,854, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁiz\. 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 47061, this pair ranks #189,954 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of crises vs criss

Shared letters: cirs. Private to "crises": e. Private to "criss": -.

"crises" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "criss" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • crisesccrises · cirses · criess · crisess · crisses · crrises · crsies · rcises
  • crissccriss · cirss · crriss · crsis · rciss

Frequency comparison

crises#5,854
criss#41,207

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "crises" and "criss" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁiz\ versus \kʁis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "crises" or "criss"?
"crises" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,854 in our French list, against #41,207 for "criss". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering crises vs criss

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 “crises” 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