Which to use
“promesses” and “prouesse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,365
- “promesses” frequency rank
- #29,090
- “prouesse” frequency rank
- 33455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | promesses | prouesse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de promesse. | Action de preux, vaillance. |
Where the eye mixes promesses and prouesse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. promesses runs 9 letters (CCVCVCCVC) against prouesse's 8 (CCVVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between promesses and prouesse
A purely visual mix-up. promesses (\pʁɔ.mes\) and prouesse (\pʁu.ɛs\) 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 33455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
promesses is recorded at frequency rank #4,365, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.mes\. prouesse is at rank #29,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁu.ɛs\.
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 33455, this pair ranks #290,528 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of promesses vs prouesse
Shared letters: eoprs. Private to "promesses": m. Private to "prouesse": u.
"promesses" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC · "prouesse" · 8 letters · shape CCVVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "promesses" and "prouesse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "promesses" vs "prouesse" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "promesses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prouesse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,528 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "promesses" and "prouesse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "protesté vs prouesse". 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 #290,528 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.