Which to use
“chaste” and “chattes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,791
- “chaste” frequency rank
- #28,481
- “chattes” frequency rank
- 71272
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chaste | chattes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui s'abstient des plaisirs de la chair. | Pluriel de chatte. |
Where the eye mixes chaste and chattes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. chaste runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against chattes's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses chaste with chattes
A purely visual mix-up. chaste (\ʃast\) and chattes (\ʃat\) 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 71272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chaste is recorded at frequency rank #42,791, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃast\. chattes is at rank #28,481, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʃat\.
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 71272, this pair ranks #48,171 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chaste vs chattes
Shared letters: acehst. Private to "chaste": -. Private to "chattes": -.
"chaste" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "chattes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chaste" and "chattes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "chaste" vs "chattes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "chaste" and "chattes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chaste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chattes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,171 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chaste" and "chattes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chapter vs chaste". 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 #48,171 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.