gross vs grosse, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,305
“gross” frequency rank: #41,160
“grosse” frequency rank: 44465
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	gross	grosse
Definition	Highly or conspicuously offensive.	Obsolete spelling of gross.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gross and grosse apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

gross

6 ch

grosse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: gross is anadjective and grosseanoun. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gross” sits inside “grosse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gross is recorded at frequency rank #3,305, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɡɹəʊs/. grosse is at rank #41,160, 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 44465, this pair ranks #230,288 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gross vs grosse

Shared letters: gors. Private to "gross": -. Private to "grosse": e.

"gross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "grosse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

gross ← ggross · gorss · gros · grross · grsos · rgoss
grosse ← ggrosse · gorsse · grose · groses · grrosse · grsose · rgosse

Frequency comparison

gross#3,305

grosse#41,160

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gross" and "grosse" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gross" is an adjective and "grosse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "gross" or "grosse"?

"gross" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,305 in our English list, against #41,160 for "grosse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gross vs grosse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gross”; for a noun, it's “grosse”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gross” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable