cruvscrushWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,555
“cru” frequency rank
#24,279
“crush” frequency rank
38834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cru crush
Definition que não foi cozido ou não foi cozido o suficiente interesse em alguém, atração física por outra pessoa, possível ou platônica

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cru and crush apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
cru
5 ch
crush

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cru is anadjective and crushanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cru” sits inside “crush”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cru is recorded at frequency rank #14,555, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɾu/. crush is at rank #24,279, tagged as anoun.

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 38834, this pair ranks #27,551 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cru vs crush

Shared letters: cru. Private to "cru": -. Private to "crush": hs.

"cru" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "crush" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • crushccrush · crrush · crsuh · cruhs · crushh · crussh · cursh · rcush

Frequency comparison

cru#14,555
crush#24,279

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cru" and "crush" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cru" is an adjective and "crush" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cru" or "crush"?
"cru" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,555 in our Portuguese list, against #24,279 for "crush". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cru vs crush

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cru”; for a noun, it's “crush”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cru” 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