Which to use
“messes” and “mesures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,500
- “messes” frequency rank
- #1,066
- “mesures” frequency rank
- 21566
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | messes | mesures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de messe. | Pluriel de mesure. |
Where the eye mixes messes and mesures
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: messes vs mesures
A purely visual mix-up. messes (\mɛs\) and mesures (\mə.zyʁ\) 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 21566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
messes is recorded at frequency rank #20,500, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛs\. mesures is at rank #1,066, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mə.zyʁ\.
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 21566, this pair ranks #362,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of messes vs mesures
Shared letters: ems. Private to "messes": -. Private to "mesures": ru.
"messes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mesures" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "messes" for "mesures" ever safe?
Which is more common, "messes" or "mesures"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "messes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mesures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "messes" and "mesures" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Massey vs messes". 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 #362,500 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.