cruvsCSSConfusable pair

Quick tell: cru is a adjective, CSS is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cru” is an adjective and “CSS” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,326
“cru” frequency rank
#18,705
“CSS” frequency rank
20031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cru CSS
Definition Qui n’est pas cuit. Séquence d’instructions de rendu visuel, auditif ou tactile d’une ressource HTML ou XML.

Where the eye mixes cru and CSS

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
cru
3 ch
CSS

Visual trap between cru and CSS

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cru is \kʁy\ while CSS is \se ɛ.s‿ɛs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cru is recorded at frequency rank #1,326, classified as anadj, pronounced \kʁy\. CSS is at rank #18,705, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se ɛ.s‿ɛs\.

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 20031, this pair ranks #370,278 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cru vs CSS

Shared letters: c. Private to "cru": ru. Private to "CSS": s.

"cru" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "CSS" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cru" for "CSS" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cru" is an adjective and "CSS" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cru" vs "CSS" - which ranks higher?
"cru" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,326 in our French list, against #18,705 for "CSS". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "cru" and "CSS" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cru" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "CSS" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #370,278 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cru" and "CSS" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs CSS". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #370,278 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list