ups

Name: ups, German Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[ʊps]

/[ʊps]/ intj

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“ups” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #6,983 in German word frequency and used as an interjection.

#6,983
frequency rank, German: 3
letters: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ausdruck der Überraschung

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ups vs us

67% similar

ups vs UV

0% similar

ups vs USA

0% similar

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

Key facts for ups
Property	Value
Headword	ups
Language	German
Part of speech	Interjection
IPA	[ʊps]
Letters	3
Frequency rank	#6,983
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ups” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). ups lands here:

#6,983

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for ups is 3 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ʊps]. Corpus data places it at rank #6,983 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Ausdruck der Überraschung".

No misspelling variants are generated for ups in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "us", "UV", "USA", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is ups, spelled U-P-S.

Definition

1
Ausdruck der Überraschung

Synonyms

hoppla

This word in other languages

oops(English)opa(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 "ups"?

"ups" is spelled U-P-S. The IPA pronunciation is [ʊps].

What does "ups" mean?

As an interjection, "ups" means: Ausdruck der Überraschung

What words are commonly confused with "ups"?

"ups" is commonly confused with "us", "UV", "USA". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "ups"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ups" is [ʊps]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "ups" come from?

"ups" 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.

Using “ups”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct German spelling is U-P-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as [ʊps] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “us” - see the side-by-side comparison. ups vs us
Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

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.