oopsvsopusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: oops is a intj, opus is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“oops” is an intj and “opus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,737
“oops” frequency rank
#23,619
“opus” frequency rank
34356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oops opus
Definition Acknowledging a mistake. A work of music or set of works with a specified rank in an ordering of a composer's complete published works.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oops and opus apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
oops
4 ch
opus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

oops and opus form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oops is recorded at frequency rank #10,737, classified as anintj, pronounced /uːps/. opus is at rank #23,619, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈəʊpəs/.

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 34356, this pair ranks #321,552 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

oops#10,737
opus#23,619

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oops" and "opus" be used interchangeably?
No, "oops" and "opus" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering oops vs opus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an intj, it's “oops”; for a noun, it's “opus”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “oops” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list