oh

[oː]

/[oː]/ intj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“oh” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #507) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#507
frequency rank, German
1,007
“O” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ausruf des Erstaunens, der Überraschung

Corpus desk

Index DE-oh · oh · German

oh · rank #507 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #507
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,007
  • PHOTO-FINISH lesen

Nearest frequency peer: lesen (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “oh”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “oh” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

oh vs ok
50% similar
oh vs on
50% similar
oh vs OP
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for oh
PropertyValue
Headwordoh
LanguageGerman
Part of speechInterjection
IPA[oː]
Letters2
Frequency rank#507
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “oh” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).ohliegt hier:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „lesen“ (#506), „Personen“ (#508), „Laut“ (#505). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for oh is neighbouring look-alikes ("ok", "on", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced [oː]. Frequency #507 among 1,007 “O” headwords. Gloss: "Ausruf des Erstaunens, der Überraschung".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for oh, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ok", "on", "OP", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is oh, spelled O-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ausruf des Erstaunens, der Überraschung

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how oh appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Oh, daran habe ich nicht gedacht.

Synonyms

huchoha

This word in other languages

oh(English)oh(Français)oh(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "oh"?
"oh" is spelled O-H. The IPA pronunciation is [oː].
What does "oh" mean?
As an interjection, "oh" means: Ausruf des Erstaunens, der Überraschung
What words are commonly confused with "oh"?
"oh" is commonly confused with "ok", "on", "OP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "oh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oh" is [oː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "oh" come from?
"oh" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

What to do next

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PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list