oaf
/əʊf/
"oaf" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oaf” is an uncommon English word, ranked #70,964 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #70,964
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person, especially a large male, who is clumsy or a simpleton.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | oaf |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əʊf/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #70,964 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oaf” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for oaf is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əʊf/. Corpus data places it at rank #70,964 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for oaf in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of awf, auf, aufe, probably from Old Norse álfr (“elf”) (whence Norwegian Bokmål alv). Doublet of alf and elf. The correct English form is oaf, spelled O-A-F.
Definition
- 1A person, especially a large male, who is clumsy or a simpleton.
- 2An elf's child; a changeling left by fairies or goblins, hence, a deformed or foolish child.
Etymology
Variant of awf, auf, aufe, probably from Old Norse álfr (“elf”) (whence Norwegian Bokmål alv). Doublet of alf and elf.
This word in other languages
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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “oaf”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-A-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əʊf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English 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.