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• crepe
  crepe

  noun

  a lightweight fabric of silk, cotton, or other fiber, with a finely crinkled or ridged surface.
• crêpe
  crêpe

  noun

  crepe.

crepe

¹ American  

[kreyp] / kreɪp /

Or crape

noun

1. a lightweight fabric of silk, cotton, or other fiber, with a finely crinkled or ridged surface.

2. a usually black band or piece of this material, worn as a token of mourning.

3. a thin, light, delicate pancake.

4. crepe paper.

5. crepe rubber.

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verb (used with object)

creped, creping

1. to cover, clothe, or drape with crepe.

crêpe ² American  

[kreyp, krep, krep] / kreɪp, krɛp, krɛp /

noun

• crêpes
  plural

1. crepe.

2. crepe.

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crepe British  

/ kreɪp /

noun

1. 1. a light cotton, silk, or other fabric with a fine ridged or crinkled surface

   2. ( as modifier )

      a crepe dress

2. a black armband originally made of this, worn as a sign of mourning

3. a very thin pancake, often rolled or folded around a filling

4. short for crepe paper crepe rubber

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verb

1. (tr) to cover or drape with crepe

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• crêpes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of crepe¹

1790–1800; < French < Latin crispus curled, wrinkled

Origin of crêpe²

From French; see origin at crepe

Explanation

A crepe is a thin, French type of pancake. It's also a word for a type of thin, crinkly paper. Don't confuse your crepes and start chewing on paper. Both types of crepes are thin, though there's only one kind you'd want to eat. The inedible crepe is paper that's very thin and crinkly. Crepe paper is usually colored and is often used in decorations. The other type of crepe is a thin pancake that is filled with many types of food, including meat and fruit. Crepes are even thinner than Swedish pancakes, and they're either sweet or savory. This word shares a linguistic ancestor with English's crisp.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crepe crêpe crêpes creped creping

The batter is more liquid than solid, like crepe batter, while apple butter is dense, so resist the urge to get fancy.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2025

They’re kind of a cross between a crepe and a pancake, and they are indescribable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2024

The pink crepe blouse has a ruff-like collar and loose pleats to the front and was captured on film by royal photographer Lord Snowdon.

From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2023

The sauce opens the richness of a pho broth or adds a blast of heat to a banh xeo, a Vietnamese crepe.

From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2023

Japanese lanterns with candles in them hung on bamboo sticks at the corners, and red crepe paper twisted in scallops from the center to the corners to give the effect of a tent.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Here, she shares her minimalist approach to restocking a kitchen from scratch, a smart pantry organization solution—and the crêpe recipe that rescued her from a cooking rut.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026

The ratio of these ingredients is very similar to that of a basic crêpe, but with a totally different execution — and the results couldn't be further apart.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2023

The restaurant will also offer a daily prix fixe menu that includes a choice of soup or a salad, one savory galette, one dessert crêpe, and a glass of hard cider, soda or juice.

From Fox News ● Aug. 26, 2021

Organizing and attending up to 14 experiences a day left little time for procuring the required ingredients and creative supplies, leading to some seriously improvised arts and crafts and a cremated crêpe attempt.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2020

Harry stopped beside a dark crêpe myrtle bush.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

Through playing around I landed on my recipe for scrunched mochi crêpes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026

In addition to apple orchards and vegetable farmers, shoppers can hit up vendors who specialize in mead, yak meat, empanadas, crêpes, Polish sausage and more.

From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2022

Check out his crêpes and pressed sandwiches at LouLou Market and Bar located at Concourse B within Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 8, 2022

And indeed, it's a cherished staple around the world, from French crêpes to Russian blini to Japanese soba.

From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2021

We’d buy crêpes au fromage from stands on the street and walk along the banks of the Seine.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

The skin that covers them is creped and saggy.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 14, 2015

They creped their campus statue of Thomas Jefferson and inscribed it: "To the Memory of Jeffersonian Democracy and Religious Freedom in Virginia Died November 6, 1928."

From Time Magazine Archive

If the slab rubber be creped and air-dried on the spot, the product is of satisfactory appearance, except that it is of low colour and may be streaked.

From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Sidney Morgan

For this purpose the weighed sample is cut thin or creped thin, and exhaustively extracted with acetone to remove any “free” sulphur—that is, sulphur not in combination with the rubber.

From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Sidney Morgan

His hair in front was well loaded with pomatum, frizzled or creped, and powdered; the ear locks had undergone the same process.

From Customs and Fashions in Old New England by Alice Morse Earle

Thus, although the putrefaction bases are very easily soluble in water and acetone, they cannot be removed by washing on the creping rollers, or by acetone extraction.

From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Sidney Morgan

Example of this haue you in Terrence of the boasting souldiar, & creping smel feast.

From A Treatise of Schemes and Tropes by Herbert William Hildebrandt

Related Words

• cake
• waffle