princessvsprincessesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,483
“princess” frequency rank
#15,465
“princesses” frequency rank
44948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature princess princesses
Definition Princesse. Pluriel de princesse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set princess and princesses apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
princess
10 ch
princesses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. princess (\ˈpɹɪn.sɛs\) and princesses (\pʁɛ̃.sɛs\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “princess” sits inside “princesses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

princess is recorded at frequency rank #29,483, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈpɹɪn.sɛs\. princesses is at rank #15,465, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɛ̃.sɛs\.

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 44948, this pair ranks #206,596 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of princess vs princesses

Shared letters: ceinprs. Private to "princess": -. Private to "princesses": -.

"princess" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "princesses" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • princesspirncess · pprincess · pricness · princcess · princses · prinecss · prinncess · prnicess
  • princessespirncesses · pprincesses · pricnesses · princcesses · princesess · princessess · princessse · princseses

Frequency comparison

princess#29,483
princesses#15,465

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "princess" and "princesses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈpɹɪn.sɛs\ versus \pʁɛ̃.sɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "princess" or "princesses"?
"princesses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,465 in our French list, against #29,483 for "princess". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering princess vs princesses

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 “princess” 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