Which to use
“courtesan” and “courtesy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,584
- “courtesan” frequency rank
- #5,778
- “courtesy” frequency rank
- 49362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courtesan | courtesy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A female prostitute, especially one with high-status or wealthy clients. | Polite behavior. |
Where the eye mixes courtesan and courtesy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. courtesan runs 9 letters (CVVCCVCVC) against courtesy's 8 (CVVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: courtesan vs courtesy
A purely visual mix-up. courtesan (/kɔːtɪˈzæn/) and courtesy (/ˈkɜːtəsi/) 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 49362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
courtesan is recorded at frequency rank #43,584, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɔːtɪˈzæn/. courtesy is at rank #5,778, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɜːtəsi/.
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 49362, this pair ranks #184,357 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courtesan vs courtesy
Shared letters: ceorstu. Private to "courtesan": an. Private to "courtesy": y.
"courtesan" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC · "courtesy" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "courtesan" and "courtesy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "courtesan" vs "courtesy" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "courtesan" and "courtesy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "courtesan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courtesy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,357 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courtesan" and "courtesy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Courtenay vs courtesan". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #184,357 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.