Which to use
“patchy” is an adjective and “path” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,695
- “patchy” frequency rank
- #2,006
- “path” frequency rank
- 33701
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patchy | path |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Full of, or covered with, patches; abounding in patches. | A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians. |
Where the eye mixes patchy and path
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses patchy with path
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patchy is /ˈpæt͡ʃi/ while path is /pɑːθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patchy is recorded at frequency rank #31,695, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpæt͡ʃi/. path is at rank #2,006, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɑːθ/.
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 33701, this pair ranks #327,132 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patchy vs path
Shared letters: ahpt. Private to "patchy": cy. Private to "path": -.
"patchy" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "path" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "patchy" for "path" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "patchy" or "path" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "patchy" and "path" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "patchy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "path" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #327,132 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patchy" and "path" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patchy vs pithy". 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 #327,132 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.