Which to use
“pathos” and “patrol” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,870
- “pathos” frequency rank
- #5,720
- “patrol” frequency rank
- 41590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pathos | patrol |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions and passions, especially that which awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like; contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic quality. | A going of the rounds along the chain of sentinels and between the posts, by a guard, usually consisting of three or four men, to insure greater security from attacks on the outposts. |
Where the eye mixes pathos and patrol
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pathos vs patrol
A purely visual mix-up. pathos (/ˈpeɪˌθɒs/) and patrol (/pəˈtɹəʊl/) 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 41590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pathos is recorded at frequency rank #35,870, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpeɪˌθɒs/. patrol is at rank #5,720, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pəˈtɹəʊl/.
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 41590, this pair ranks #256,910 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pathos vs patrol
Shared letters: aopt. Private to "pathos": hs. Private to "patrol": lr.
"pathos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "patrol" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pathos" and "patrol" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pathos" or "patrol"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pathos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patrol" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,910 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pathos" and "patrol" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Palos vs pathos". 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 #256,910 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.