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[Ammy](http://amaterasu.is.moelicious.be/guide/Alphabets.php#honorifics)
claims that 殿 is more respectful than 様:

> 様 -sama: a respectful honorific used for those of a higher social standing
>
> 殿 -dono: even more respectful than -sama, less likely to be used solely out
> of obligation

However,
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Dono.2Ftono)
claims otherwise:

> 殿 when attached to a name, roughly means "lord" or "master". . .
>
> . . . and lies **in between san and sama** in level of respect.

Who is right?

Does「様」command more respect than「殿」, or is it the other way round?
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2012-06-02T15:50:29.060
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question
usage honorifics
「様」vs「殿」, which is more respectful?
様 is more respectful than 殿. The reason Ammy gets it wrong is because 殿 _used
to be_ more respectful in the past, but it has changed overtime and 様 has
become more respectful. Nowadays, 殿 is used as a fixed expression in some
circles. Many companies use it in their e-mails when referring to a coworker,
but I would use 様 instead if I were referring to someone in a different
company. However, it may still be tradition at some companies to use 殿 all the
time, but always use 様 instead if you are not sure.
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2012-06-02T21:04:46.703
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I think Jesse's answer is basically right, but I thought it worth offering a
slightly different perspective, just for more dimension.

I think Jesse is correct that `殿{どの}` used to be more decidedly respectful
than it is now. It used to represent a specific place in the social hierarchy.
However, it's not so much that `様{さま}` has overtaken it, just that `殿` has
been regulated to very specific situations. Formal letter writing, certain
business interactions, and so on.

So it's not the case that you would meet someone on the street and opt to use
`殿` to convey you respected them less than `様` but more than `さん`.

With that in mind, one could argue that it's not necessarily less respectful
than `様`, just different, regulated to being prescribed in specific ritualized
situations.

I think `殿` is somewhat archaic, and given that you can, as I mostly have, go
years without having to use `殿`, I would suspect it might be slowly getting
phased out.
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2012-06-03T03:28:52.060
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answer