och

/ɒx/

//ɒx// intj

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

"och" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“och” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #33,765) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#33,765
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - general interjection of confirmation, affirmation, and often disapproval.

Corpus desk

Index EN-och · och · English

och · rank #33,765 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,765
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH Odysseus

Nearest frequency peer: Odysseus (+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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “och”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “och” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

och vs of
33% similar
och vs on
33% similar
och vs or
33% similar

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

Key facts for och
PropertyValue
Headwordoch
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechInterjection
IPA/ɒx/
Letters3
Frequency rank#33,765
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “och”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Odysseus” (#33,766), “omitting” (#33,769), “nis” (#33,760). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “och” is #33,765. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for och is neighbouring look-alikes ("of", "on", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced /ɒx/. Frequency #33,765 among 1,431 “O” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for och in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "of", "on", "or", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Compare Early Modern English och, Scottish Gaelic och, Irish och. Compare also Scots ach, Scots ouch. The correct English form is och, spelled O-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    general interjection of confirmation, affirmation, and often disapproval.
  2. 2
    an expression of anger, frustration, surprise

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. “Och, ooh, it’s so confusing, it hurts my wee head! I’m just a woman, you know, just a pair of ovaries and some bangs! How do I have the mental capacity to pick from one of two options? Put me down for a no, and never trust me with an important decision again!”

Etymology

Compare Early Modern English och, Scottish Gaelic och, Irish och. Compare also Scots ach, Scots ouch.

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

How do you spell "och"?
"och" is spelled O-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ɒx/.
What does "och" mean?
As an interjection, "och" means: general interjection of confirmation, affirmation, and often disapproval.
What words are commonly confused with "och"?
"och" is commonly confused with "of", "on", "or". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "och"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "och" is /ɒx/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "och"?
Compare Early Modern English och, Scottish Gaelic och, Irish och. Compare also Scots ach, Scots ouch. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

nis#33,760MPC#33,749PCA#33,786PPS#33,799

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list