oops
/uːps/
"oops" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oops” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #10,737) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #10,737
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Acknowledging a mistake.
Corpus desk
Index EN-oops · oops · English
oops · rank #10,737 · 4 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #10,737
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 4 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH ole
Nearest frequency peer: ole (-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 neighbourhood for “oops”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- notify
notify
89,267 corpus weight
- null
null
89,266 corpus weight
- ole
ole
89,265 corpus weight
- oops
oops
89,264 corpus weight
- oriental
oriental
89,263 corpus weight
- owing
owing
89,262 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “oops” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for oops is neighbouring look-alikes ("op", "OS", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced /uːps/. Frequency #10,737 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Gloss: "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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how oops appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Oops! I left the lid off the ketchup.
Oops, I did it again / I played with your heart, got lost in the game
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "oops", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "oops". Here's where to go from here.
- "oops" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "op". View pair
- 4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #10,737 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "O" letter cohort. O–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.