Create vs. Craft: What's the Difference?

Edited by Harlon Moss || By Janet White || Updated on September 21, 2023

Create means to bring something into existence, while Craft involves making something with skill, often by hand.

Key Differences

Create and Craft are two words often used interchangeably but they possess distinct nuances. To Create is to bring something into existence that didn’t exist before, it is often associated with invention, innovation, and the generation of new ideas or concepts. Craft, on the other hand, usually refers to the skilled making of something, typically by hand, it involves a level of artistry, technique, and attention to detail.

While creating can be expansive, encompassing the origination of concepts, ideas, or things, crafting typically implies refining, shaping, and perfecting. Creating can happen in a moment of inspiration, a burst of innovation resulting in something new. Crafting, conversely, involves diligent, meticulous effort to construct something with precision and care, often involving skilled hands.

Create is a term used broadly in various contexts, one can create music, create a business plan, or create an environment. It implies initiation and originality. Craft, however, is more specific and often related to making tangible items such as crafted furniture or crafted jewelry. It implies mastery, skill, and the act of making.

In essence, creating is about conceiving and bringing into existence; it’s about pioneering and innovating. It emphasizes the initiation of existence. Craft focuses more on the process, the methodical effort, and expertise involved in making something, giving form to the material, and paying attention to detail and quality.

In summary, while the act to create revolves around the concept of bringing into existence and innovating, the term craft is about the skilled process of making and refining, concentrating more on the journey of constructing with skill and precision.

Comparison Chart

Definition

Bringing something into existence.

Making something with skill, often by hand.

Focus

Origination and innovation.

Refinement, technique, and precision.

Scope

Broad, applicable to various contexts.

More specific, often tangible items.

Implication

Emphasizes initiation of existence.

Involves mastery and attention to detail.

Aspect

Can be intangible ideas or concepts.

Usually tangible and material.

Create and Craft Definitions

Create

To bring something into existence.

She wants to create a mural on the school wall.

Craft

To make with care, skill, and ingenuity.

He crafted a beautiful wooden table.

Create

To originate as a product of one's own ingenuity.

He created a new method to solve the equation.

Craft

Art or artistic ability.

The craft of writing requires practice and patience.

Create

To produce through imaginative skill.

Artists create works of art to express themselves.

Craft

Skill in deceiving to gain an end.

He used craft to achieve his political goals.

Create

To establish or institute something.

They plan to create a wildlife preserve.

Craft

Skill in doing or making something, as in the arts; proficiency.

Create

To cause to exist; bring into being

Created a new music school.

Craft

Skill in evasion or deception; guile.

Create

To give rise to; produce

That remark created a stir.

Craft

An occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or skilled artistry.

Create

To produce through artistic or imaginative effort

Create a poem.

Create a dramatic role.

Craft

The practitioners of such an occupation or trade considered as a group.

Create

To invest with an office or title; appoint

He was created a baron.

Craft

Pl. craft A boat, ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.

Create

Created.

Craft

Crafts Items made by craftspeople.

Create

(transitive) To bring into existence; (sometimes in particular:)

You can create the color orange by mixing yellow and red.

Craft

To make or construct (something) with care or ingenuity.

Create

To bring into existence out of nothing, without the prior existence of the materials or elements used.

Craft

Strength; power; might; force .

Create

To make or produce from other (e.g. raw, unrefined or scattered) materials or combinable elements or ideas; to design or invest with a new form, shape, function, etc.

Couturiers create exclusive garments for an affluent clientele.

Craft

(uncountable) Intellectual power; skill; art.

Create

(transitive) To cause, to bring (a non-object) about by an action, behavior, or event, to occasion.

Crop failures created food shortages and high prices; his stubbornness created many difficulties

A sudden chemical spill on the highway created a chain‐collision which created a record traffic jam.

Craft

Ability, skilfulness, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs, adroitness, practical cunning; ingenuity in constructing, dexterity .

Create

(transitive) To confer or invest with a rank or title of nobility, to appoint, ordain or constitute.

Henry VIII created him a Duke.

Last month, the queen created two barons.

Under the concordate with Belgium, at least one Belgian clergyman must be created cardinal; by tradition, every archbishop of Mechelen is thus created a cardinal.

Craft

Cunning, art, skill, or dexterity applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; subtlety; shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception .

Create

(intransitive) To be or do something creative, imaginative, originative.

Children usually enjoy creating, never mind if it is of any use!

Craft

(obsolete) Occult art, magic .

Create

(transitive) In theatre, to be the first performer of a role; to originate a character.

Craft

A work or product of art .

Create

To make a fuss, complain; to shout.

Craft

(collective or plural) Handmade items, especially domestic or decorative objects; handicrafts .

Create

(obsolete) Created, resulting from creation.

Craft

A device, a means; a magical device, spell or enchantment .

Create

Created; composed; begotten.

Hearts create of duty and zeal.

Craft

Learning of the schools, scholarship; a branch of learning or knowledge, a science, especially one of the ‘seven liberal arts’ of the medieval universities .

Create

To bring into being; to form out of nothing; to cause to exist.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

Craft

(uncountable) Skill, skilfulness, art, especially the skill needed for a particular profession .

The craft of writing plays.

Create

To effect by the agency, and under the laws, of causation; to be the occasion of; to cause; to produce; to form or fashion; to renew.

Your eye in ScotlandWould create soldiers.

Create in me a clean heart.

Craft

A branch of skilled work or trade, especially one requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill, but sometimes applied equally to any business, calling or profession; the skilled practice of a practical occupation .

The carpenter's craft.

He learned his craft as an apprentice.

Create

To invest with a new form, office, or character; to constitute; to appoint; to make; as, to create one a peer.

Craft

(countable) A trade or profession as embodied in its practitioners collectively; the members of a trade or handicraft as a body; an association of these; a trade's union, guild, or ‘company’ .

She represented the craft of brewers.

Create

Make or cause to be or to become;

Make a mess in one's office

Create a furor

Craft

A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space .

Create

Bring into existence;

The company was created 25 years ago

He created a new movement in painting

Craft

(nautical) Boats, especially of smaller size than ships. Historically primarily applied to vessels engaged in loading or unloading of other vessels, as lighters, hoys, and barges.

Create

Pursue a creative activity; be engaged in a creative activity;

Don't disturb him--he is creating

Craft

Those vessels attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, and gun-boats, generally commanded by lieutenants.

Create

Invest with a new title, office, or rank;

Create one a peer

Craft

(figurative) A woman.

Create

Create by artistic means;

Create a poem

Schoenberg created twelve-tone music

Picasso created Cubism

Auden made verses

Craft

Implements used in catching fish, such as net, line, or hook. Modern use primarily in whaling, as in harpoons, hand-lances, etc. .

Create

Create or manufacture a man-made product;

We produce more cars than we can sell

The company has been making toys for two centuries

Craft

To make by hand and with much skill.

Create

To cause to happen as a result of one's actions.

His comments created a controversy.

Craft

To construct, develop something (like a skilled craftsman).

State crafting; the process of crafting global policing

Craft

(video games) To combine multiple items to form a new item, such as armour or medicine.

Craft

Strength; might; secret power.

Craft

Art or skill; dexterity in particular manual employment; hence, the occupation or employment itself; manual art; a trade.

Ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

A poem is the work of the poet; poesy is his skill or craft of making.

Since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations,Has the craft of the smith been held in repute.

Craft

Those engaged in any trade, taken collectively; a guild; as, the craft of ironmongers.

The control of trade passed from the merchant guilds to the new craft guilds.

Craft

Cunning, art, or skill, in a bad sense, or applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; skill or dexterity employed to effect purposes by deceit or shrewd devices.

You have that crooked wisdom which is called craft.

The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

Craft

A vessel; vessels of any kind; - generally used in a collective sense.

The evolutions of the numerous tiny craft moving over the lake.

Craft

To play tricks; to practice artifice.

You have crafted fair.

Craft

The skilled practice of a practical occupation;

He learned his trade as an apprentice

Craft

A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space

Craft

People who perform a particular kind of skilled work;

He represented the craft of brewers

As they say in the trade

Craft

Skill in an occupation or trade

Craft

Shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

Craft

Make by hand and with much skill;

The artisan crafted a complicated tool

Craft

The skilled practice of a practical occupation.

She learned the craft of woodworking from her grandfather.

Craft

A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air.

The spacecraft was ready for its journey.

FAQs

Is innovation a form of creation?

Yes, innovation is a form of creation as it involves bringing new ideas or methods into existence.

Can creating involve intangible things?

Yes, creating can involve intangible things like ideas, music, or plans.

What does it mean to create something?

To create means to bring something into existence that did not exist before.

Is craft focused more on skills?

Yes, craft focuses on the skills, precision, and technique involved in making something.

Is craft synonymous with art?

Craft can be synonymous with art, especially when it involves skill, design, and aesthetic value.

Does craft always involve hand-made items?

While craft often involves hand-made items, it can also refer to skill and artistry in general.

Can you create a business plan?

Absolutely, creating a business plan involves originating a structured strategy for business development.

Is creation always innovative?

Creation involves bringing something into existence and is often, but not always, innovative.

Is crafted furniture considered a form of art?

Yes, crafted furniture can be considered a form of art due to the skill and design involved.

Can creating be a spontaneous act?

Yes, creating can be spontaneous, often stemming from a moment of inspiration or insight.

Is craftsmanship valued in various professions?

Yes, craftsmanship is highly valued in professions requiring skill, precision, and attention to detail.

Can one create an environment?

Yes, actions and alterations can create a specific environment or atmosphere.

Does craft require attention to detail?

Yes, craft typically requires meticulous attention to detail and precision.

Can craft be deceptive?

The term “craft” can refer to deceptive means employed to achieve an end.

Can the act of creating be learned and developed?

Yes, the ability to create can be nurtured, learned, and developed through practice and education.

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About Author

Written by

Janet White

Janet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.

Edited by

Harlon Moss

Harlon is a seasoned quality moderator and accomplished content writer for Difference Wiki. An alumnus of the prestigious University of California, he earned his degree in Computer Science. Leveraging his academic background, Harlon brings a meticulous and informed perspective to his work, ensuring content accuracy and excellence.