Which to use
“paltry” is an adjective and “Patty” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,625
- “paltry” frequency rank
- #13,395
- “Patty” frequency rank
- 48020
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paltry | Patty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Trashy, trivial, of little value. | A unisex given name. |
Where the eye mixes paltry and Patty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. paltry runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against Patty's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between paltry and Patty
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: paltry is /ˈpɒltɹi/ while Patty is /ˈpæti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48020, 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/. Patty is at rank #13,395, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈpæti/.
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 48020, this pair ranks #197,112 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of paltry vs Patty
Shared letters: apty. Private to "paltry": lr. Private to "Patty": -.
"paltry" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "Patty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "paltry" and "Patty" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "paltry" or "Patty" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "paltry" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Patty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,112 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paltry" and "Patty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paltry vs pasty". 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 #197,112 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.