croiservscruiseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,418
“croiser” frequency rank
#22,820
“cruise” frequency rank
30238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature croiser cruise
Definition Disposer en forme de croix. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de cruiser.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
croiser
6 ch
cruise

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. croiser (\kʁwa.ze\) and cruise (\kʁuz\) 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 30238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

croiser is recorded at frequency rank #7,418, classified as averb, pronounced \kʁwa.ze\. cruise is at rank #22,820, tagged as averb, pronounced \kʁuz\.

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 30238, this pair ranks #311,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of croiser vs cruise

Shared letters: ceirs. Private to "croiser": o. Private to "cruise": u.

"croiser" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "cruise" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • croiserccroiser · coriser · crioser · croiesr · croiserr · croisre · croisser · crosier
  • cruiseccruise · criuse · crruise · cruies · cruisse · crusie · curise · rcuise

Frequency comparison

croiser#7,418
cruise#22,820

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "croiser" and "cruise" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁwa.ze\ versus \kʁuz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "croiser" or "cruise"?
"croiser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,418 in our French list, against #22,820 for "cruise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering croiser vs cruise

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 “croiser” 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