obvs
/ɒ(b)vz/
"obvs" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“obvs” is uncommon English (frequency #63,113 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,113
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Clipping of obviously.
Corpus desk
Index EN-obvs · obvs · English
obvs · rank #63,113 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #63,113
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH oesophagus
Nearest frequency peer: oesophagus (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
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.
Long-tail ranks near “obvs”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- niceness
niceness
36,895 corpus weight
- nonwhite
nonwhite
36,892 corpus weight
- Norden
Norden
36,891 corpus weight
- obvs
obvs
36,888 corpus weight
- oesophagus
oesophagus
36,887 corpus weight
- omicron
omicron
36,883 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “obvs” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | obvs |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ɒ(b)vz/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #63,113 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “obvs” in English
Rare enough to double-check
obvs is uncommon English at frequency #63,113 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anadverb, transcribed /ɒ(b)vz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Clipping of obviously.".
No misspelling variants are generated for obvs in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of obviously + -s (hypocoristic suffix). Compare blates (“blatantly”), totes (“totally”). The correct English form is obvs, spelled O-B-V-S.
Definition
- 1Clipping of obviously.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how obvs appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Logan and Zoë had my number, obvs. But for once I wasn't sure that I wanted them to.
Like those blockbusters-with-sophisticated-allegorical-aspirations, District 9's greatest asset (beyond excellent visual effects, obvs) is its fascinating setting
Etymology
Clipping of obviously + -s (hypocoristic suffix). Compare blates (“blatantly”), totes (“totally”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "obvs", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).