Which to use
“pacts” and “paths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,675
- “pacts” frequency rank
- #6,945
- “paths” frequency rank
- 53620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pacts | paths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of pact | plural of path |
Where the eye mixes pacts and paths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pacts and paths follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between pacts and paths
A purely visual mix-up. pacts (/pækts/) and paths (/pɑːðz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pacts is recorded at frequency rank #46,675, classified as anoun, pronounced /pækts/. paths is at rank #6,945, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɑːðz/.
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 53620, this pair ranks #147,534 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pacts vs paths
Shared letters: apst. Private to "pacts": c. Private to "paths": h.
"pacts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "paths" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pacts" and "paths" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pacts" or "paths"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pacts" and "paths" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pacts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #147,534 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pacts" and "paths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pacts 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 #147,534 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.