Which to use
“paces” and “pads” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,348
- “paces” frequency rank
- #10,102
- “pads” frequency rank
- 33450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paces | pads |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of pace | plural of pad |
Where the eye mixes paces and pads
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: paces vs pads
A purely visual mix-up. paces (/ˈpeɪsɪz/) and pads (/pædz/) 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 33450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paces is recorded at frequency rank #23,348, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpeɪsɪz/. pads is at rank #10,102, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pædz/.
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 33450, this pair ranks #329,347 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of paces vs pads
Shared letters: aps. Private to "paces": ce. Private to "pads": d.
"paces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pads" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "paces" and "pads" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "paces" vs "pads" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "paces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pads" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #329,347 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paces" and "pads" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paces vs pecs". 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 #329,347 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.