sous-maîtresse
\su.mɛ.tʁɛs\
The verdict
“sous-maîtresse” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Équivalent au xixᵉ siècle d’institutrice.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sous-maîtresse |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \su.mɛ.tʁɛs\ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sous-maîtresse” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for sous-maîtresse is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \su.mɛ.tʁɛs\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sous-maîtresse, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is sous-maîtresse, spelled S-O-U-S---M-A-Î-T-R-E-S-S-E.
Definition
- 1Équivalent au xixᵉ siècle d’institutrice.
- 2Celle qui, dans une maison d’éducation, surveille les élèves et supplée au besoin le maître ou la maîtresse.
- 3Femme qui seconde la tenancière principale d’une maison de prostitution.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “sous-maîtresse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is S-O-U-S---M-A-Î-T-R-E-S-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \su.mɛ.tʁɛs\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.