Which to use
“patrols” and “payroll” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,467
- “patrols” frequency rank
- #10,250
- “payroll” frequency rank
- 25717
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patrols | payroll |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of patrol | A list of employees who receive salary or wages, together with the amounts due to each. |
Where the eye mixes patrols and payroll
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: patrols vs payroll
A purely visual mix-up. patrols (/pəˈtɹəʊlz/) and payroll (/ˈpeɪˌɹəʊl/) 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 25717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patrols is recorded at frequency rank #15,467, classified as anoun, pronounced /pəˈtɹəʊlz/. payroll is at rank #10,250, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpeɪˌɹəʊl/.
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 25717, this pair ranks #392,184 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patrols vs payroll
Shared letters: alopr. Private to "patrols": st. Private to "payroll": y.
"patrols" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "payroll" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "patrols" for "payroll" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "patrols" or "payroll" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "patrols" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payroll" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,184 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patrols" and "payroll" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pathos vs patrols". 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 #392,184 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.