Which to use
“crises” and “cross” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,854
- “crises” frequency rank
- #8,369
- “cross” frequency rank
- 14223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crises | cross |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de crise. | Sorte de course à pied hors route. |
Where the eye mixes crises and cross
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between crises and cross
A purely visual mix-up. crises (\kʁiz\) and cross (\kʁɔs\) 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 14223, 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\. cross is at rank #8,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɔs\.
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 14223, this pair ranks #397,622 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crises vs cross
Shared letters: crs. Private to "crises": ei. Private to "cross": o.
"crises" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "crises" and "cross" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "crises" or "cross"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "crises" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cross" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,622 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crises" and "cross" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "croco vs cross". 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 #397,622 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.