Opa

[ˈoːpa]

/[ˈoːpa]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Opa” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #4,728) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#4,728
frequency rank, German
1,007
“O” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Großvater; Vater des Vaters oder der Mutter

Corpus desk

Index DE-opa · Opa · German

Opa · rank #4,728 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,728
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,007
  • PHOTO-FINISH olympischen

Nearest frequency peer: olympischen (-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 “Opa”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Opa” 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).

Opa vs or
0% similar
Opa vs Os
33% similar
Opa vs OT
33% similar

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

Key facts for Opa
PropertyValue
HeadwordOpa
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈoːpa]
Letters3
Frequency rank#4,728
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “Opa” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „olympischen“ (#4,727), „opfern“ (#4,729), „notwendigen“ (#4,726). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Opa is neighbouring look-alikes ("or", "Os", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈoːpa]. Frequency #4,728 among 1,007 “O” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Opa, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "or", "Os", "OT", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Opa, spelled O-P-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Großvater; Vater des Vaters oder der Mutter
  2. 2
    alter Mann

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Mein Opa arbeitet in einem Supermarkt.
  2. „Oma und Opa waren da, meine Eltern, mein Bruder Sebastian und Onkel Hugo.“

Synonyms

GroßvaterSenioralterKnacker

Antonyms

Oma

This word in other languages

grandpa(English)abuelo(Español)papi(Français)avô(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 "Opa"?
"Opa" is spelled O-P-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈoːpa].
What does "Opa" mean?
As a noun, "Opa" means: Großvater; Vater des Vaters oder der Mutter
What words are commonly confused with "Opa"?
"Opa" is commonly confused with "or", "Os", "OT". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Opa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Opa" is [ˈoːpa]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Opa" come from?
"Opa" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Opa", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Ulm#4,742Uwe#4,746aha#4,760Bob#4,689

What to do next

You've looked up "Opa". Here's where to go from here.

  • "Opa" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "or". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #4,728 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "O" letter cohort. O–Z browse

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