Which to use
“mairesse” and “maîtresse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,590
- “mairesse” frequency rank
- #5,367
- “maîtresse” frequency rank
- 36957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mairesse | maîtresse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | , , La première officière municipale d’une commune, municipalité ou arrondissement, élue, en France, par les conseillers municipaux à l’issue des élections municipales, en Suisse et au Canada, directement par le corps électoral. | Celle qui a un pouvoir de domination sur les êtres ou les choses. |
Where the eye mixes mairesse and maîtresse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. mairesse runs 8 letters (CVVCVCCV) against maîtresse's 9 (CVVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mairesse vs maîtresse
A purely visual mix-up. mairesse (\mɛ.ʁɛs\) and maîtresse (\mɛ.tʁɛs\) 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 36957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mairesse is recorded at frequency rank #31,590, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ.ʁɛs\. maîtresse is at rank #5,367, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛ.tʁɛs\.
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 36957, this pair ranks #265,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mairesse vs maîtresse
Shared letters: aemrs. Private to "mairesse": i. Private to "maîtresse": tî.
"mairesse" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV · "maîtresse" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mairesse ← amiresse · maiersse · mairese · maireses · mairresse · mairsese · mariesse · miaresse
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mairesse" and "maîtresse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mairesse" vs "maîtresse" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mairesse" and "maîtresse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mairesse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtresse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #265,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mairesse" and "maîtresse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mairesse vs maîtresses". 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 #265,902 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.