Which to use
“promesses” and “prouesses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,365
- “promesses” frequency rank
- #25,088
- “prouesses” frequency rank
- 29453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | promesses | prouesses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de promesse. | Pluriel de prouesse. |
Where the eye mixes promesses and prouesses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. promesses (CCVCVCCVC) and prouesses (CCVVVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses promesses with prouesses
A purely visual mix-up. promesses (\pʁɔ.mes\) and prouesses (\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 a single letter - m in “promesses” becomes u in “prouesses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29453, 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\. prouesses is at rank #25,088, 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 29453, this pair ranks #316,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of promesses vs prouesses
Shared letters: eoprs. Private to "promesses": m. Private to "prouesses": u.
"promesses" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC · "prouesses" · 9 letters · shape CCVVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "promesses" and "prouesses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "promesses" or "prouesses"?
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 "promesses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prouesses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "promesses" and "prouesses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prouesse vs prouesses". 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 #316,559 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.