Which to use
“patter” and “poster” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,547
- “patter” frequency rank
- #5,247
- “poster” frequency rank
- 43794
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patter | poster |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A soft repeated sound, as of rain falling, or feet walking on a hard surface. | A picture of a celebrity, an event etc., intended to be attached to a wall. |
Where the eye mixes patter and poster
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: patter vs poster
A purely visual mix-up. patter (/ˈpæt.ə/) and poster (/ˈpoʊstɚ/) 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 43794, 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/. poster is at rank #5,247, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpoʊstɚ/.
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 43794, this pair ranks #236,647 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patter vs poster
Shared letters: eprt. Private to "patter": a. Private to "poster": os.
"patter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "poster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patter" and "poster" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "patter" or "poster" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "patter" and "poster" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "patter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,647 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patter" and "poster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patter vs pester". 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 #236,647 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.