Which to use
“paltry” is an adjective and “Patsy” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,625
- “paltry” frequency rank
- #24,858
- “Patsy” frequency rank
- 59483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paltry | Patsy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Trashy, trivial, of little value. | A diminutive of the female given name Patricia. |
Letter map: paltry vs Patsy
Shared letters muted; letters that set paltry and Patsy apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Grammar separator: paltry vs Patsy
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: paltry is anadjective and Patsyaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paltry is recorded at frequency rank #34,625, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɒltɹi/. Patsy is at rank #24,858, tagged as aname.
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 59483, this pair ranks #105,902 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of paltry vs Patsy
Shared letters: apty. Private to "paltry": lr. Private to "Patsy": s.
"paltry" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "Patsy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "paltry" for "Patsy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "paltry" vs "Patsy" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "paltry" and "Patsy". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "paltry" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Patsy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #105,902 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paltry" and "Patsy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pappy vs Patsy". 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 #105,902 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.