oops
/uːps/
"oops" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oops” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,737 in English word frequency and used as an interjection.
- #10,737
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Acknowledging a mistake.
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 | oops |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /uːps/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,737 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oops” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for oops is 4 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /uːps/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,737 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Acknowledging a mistake.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for oops, with forms such as "oopps", "oopss", and "oosp". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "op", "OS", "opt", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: A presumably 'natural' exclamation, attested in writing since 1921. Related to or a variation of whoops (itself attested since 1933). A shortening of whoops-a-daisy, whoopsie-daisy, or oops-a-daisy, which in turn is a mispronunciation of ups-a-daisy or upsy… The correct English form is oops, spelled O-O-P-S.
Definition
- 1Acknowledging a mistake.
Etymology
A presumably 'natural' exclamation, attested in writing since 1921. Related to or a variation of whoops (itself attested since 1933). A shortening of whoops-a-daisy, whoopsie-daisy, or oops-a-daisy, which in turn is a mispronunciation of ups-a-daisy or upsy-daisy.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oopps,oopss,oosp,opos
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of oops - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “oops”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-O-P-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /uːps/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “op” - see the side-by-side comparison. oops vs op
- 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.