diff --git a/command/state_list.go b/command/state_list.go
index 4aa4a688b..daa96b684 100644
--- a/command/state_list.go
+++ b/command/state_list.go
@@ -54,19 +54,19 @@ func (c *StateListCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 
 func (c *StateListCommand) Help() string {
 	helpText := `
-Usage: terraform state list [options] [address...]
+Usage: terraform state list [options] [pattern...]
 
   List resources in the Terraform state.
 
-  This command lists resources in the Terraform state. The address argument
-  can be used to filter the resources by resource or module. If no address
+  This command lists resources in the Terraform state. The pattern argument
+  can be used to filter the resources by resource or module. If no pattern
   is given, all resources are listed.
 
-  The address argument is meant to provide very simple filtering. For
+  The pattern argument is meant to provide very simple filtering. For
   advanced filtering, please use tools such as "grep". The output of this
   command is designed to be friendly for this usage.
 
-  The address argument accepts any resource targeting syntax. Please
+  The pattern argument accepts any resource targeting syntax. Please
   refer to the documentation on resource targeting syntax for more
   information.
 
diff --git a/website/source/docs/commands/state/list.html.md b/website/source/docs/commands/state/list.html.md
index a785e90b4..e4350d483 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/commands/state/list.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/commands/state/list.html.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ configuration are listed first, and resources that are more deeply nested
 within modules are listed last.
 
 For complex infrastructures, the state can contain thousands of resources.
-To filter these, provide one or more addresses to the command. Addresses are
+To filter these, provide one or more patterns to the command. Patterns are
 in [resource addressing format](/docs/commands/state/addressing.html).
 
 The command-line flags are all optional. The list of available flags are: