Which to use
“patter” is a noun and “pester” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,547
- “patter” frequency rank
- #48,966
- “pester” frequency rank
- 87513
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patter | pester |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A soft repeated sound, as of rain falling, or feet walking on a hard surface. | To bother, harass, or annoy persistently. |
Where the eye mixes patter and pester
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between patter and pester
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patter is /ˈpæt.ə/ while pester is /ˈpɛstə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patter is recorded at frequency rank #38,547, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæt.ə/. pester is at rank #48,966, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɛstə(ɹ)/.
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 87513, this pair ranks #7,506 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of patter vs pester
Shared letters: eprt. Private to "patter": a. Private to "pester": s.
"patter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pester" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patter" and "pester" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "patter" or "pester"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "patter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pester" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,506 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patter" and "pester" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pester vs Petey". 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 #7,506 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.