oi
/ɔɪ/
"oi" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oi” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,081 in English word frequency and used as an interjection.
- #11,081
- frequency rank, English
- 2
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Said to get someone's attention; hey.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | oi |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /ɔɪ/ |
| Letters | 2 |
| Frequency rank | #11,081 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oi” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for oi is 2 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɔɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,081 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
oi doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "on", "or", "OK", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of the interjection hoy with h-dropping in working class and Cockney speech; first recorded in the 1930s. Compare also unrelated Portuguese oi and Japanese おい (oi). The correct English form is oi, spelled O-I.
Definition
- 1Said to get someone's attention; hey.
- 2An expression of surprise.
- 3An informal greeting, similar to hi.
Etymology
Variant of the interjection hoy with h-dropping in working class and Cockney speech; first recorded in the 1930s. Compare also unrelated Portuguese oi and Japanese おい (oi).
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 “oi”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɔɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “on” - see the side-by-side comparison. oi vs on
- 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.