Which to use
“crisis” and “criss” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,787
- “crisis” frequency rank
- #41,207
- “criss” frequency rank
- 77994
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crisis | criss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Crise. | Poignard dont la lame est parfois en zigzag à l’usage des Malais. |
Where the eye mixes crisis and criss
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. crisis runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against criss's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses crisis with criss
A purely visual mix-up. crisis (\ˈkɹaɪ.sɪs\) 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 77994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crisis is recorded at frequency rank #36,787, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈkɹaɪ.sɪs\. 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 77994, this pair ranks #26,910 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of crisis vs criss
Shared letters: cirs. Private to "crisis": -. Private to "criss": -.
"crisis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "criss" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crisis" for "criss" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crisis" vs "criss" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "crisis" and "criss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "crisis" 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 #26,910 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crisis" 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 #26,910 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.