Which to use
“path” and “pathos” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,109
- “path” frequency rank
- #38,968
- “pathos” frequency rank
- 71077
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | path | pathos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sentier, chemin, voie. | Chaleur, emphase affectée, confuse et vaine dans un discours, dans un ouvrage littéraire. |
Where the eye mixes path and pathos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between path and pathos
A purely visual mix-up. path (\pɑːθ\) and pathos (\pa.tɔs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “path” sits inside “pathos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
path is recorded at frequency rank #32,109, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɑːθ\. pathos is at rank #38,968, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɔs\.
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 71077, this pair ranks #48,891 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of path vs pathos
Shared letters: ahpt. Private to "path": -. Private to "pathos": os.
"path" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pathos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "path" for "pathos" ever safe?
Which is more common, "path" or "pathos"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "path" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pathos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,891 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "path" and "pathos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "path vs PTZ". 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 #48,891 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.