Which to use
“patch” and “pate” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,149
- “patch” frequency rank
- #33,784
- “pate” frequency rank
- 38933
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patch | pate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole. | The head, particularly the top or crown. |
Where the eye mixes patch and pate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses patch with pate
A purely visual mix-up. patch (/pæt͡ʃ/) and pate (/peɪt/) 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 38933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patch is recorded at frequency rank #5,149, classified as anoun, pronounced /pæt͡ʃ/. pate is at rank #33,784, tagged as anoun, pronounced /peɪt/.
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 38933, this pair ranks #281,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patch vs pate
Shared letters: apt. Private to "patch": ch. Private to "pate": e.
"patch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "pate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patch" and "pate" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "patch" vs "pate" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "patch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #281,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patch" and "pate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pate vs Pyke". 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 #281,360 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.