AdressevsaltesseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Adresse” and “altesse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#955
“Adresse” frequency rank
#15,302
“altesse” frequency rank
16257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adresse altesse
Definition Adresse (dans le sens du lieu de résidence, de l’adresse informatique), coordonnées (principalement utilisé en Suisse). Titre d’honneur qui se donne à différents princes, en parlant et en écrivant.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
Adresse
7 ch
altesse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Adresse (\a.ˈdrɛ.sə\) and altesse (\al.tɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adresse is recorded at frequency rank #955, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ˈdrɛ.sə\. altesse is at rank #15,302, tagged as anoun, pronounced \al.tɛs\.

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 16257, this pair ranks #388,672 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Adresse vs altesse

Shared letters: aes. Private to "Adresse": dr. Private to "altesse": lt.

"Adresse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "altesse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adresseaddresse · adersse · adrese · adreses · adrresse · adrsese · ardesse · daresse
  • altessealetsse · alltesse · altese · alteses · altsese · alttesse · atlesse · latesse

Frequency comparison

Adresse#955
altesse#15,302

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Adresse" and "altesse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a.ˈdrɛ.sə\ versus \al.tɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Adresse" or "altesse"?
"Adresse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #955 in our French list, against #15,302 for "altesse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Adresse vs altesse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Adresse” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list