opal
/ˈəʊpəl/
"opal" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“opal” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,458 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,458
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.
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 | opal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈəʊpəl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #22,458 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “opal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for opal is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈəʊpəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,458 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for opal, with forms such as "oapl", "opall", and "opla". 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, "opt", "owl", "ops", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος (opállios), from Sanskrit उपल (upala, “gem, stone”), from उपरि (upári, “the upper millstone”). Distantly related to over. The correct English form is opal, spelled O-P-A-L.
Definition
- 1A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.
- 2A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.
- 3The colour of opal: any shade of blue with bright flecks of other colours, such as white, yellow, and red.
- 4A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."
- 5Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genus Nesolycaena.
Etymology
In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος (opállios), from Sanskrit उपल (upala, “gem, stone”), from उपरि (upári, “the upper millstone”). Distantly related to over.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oapl,opall,opla,oppal,poal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of opal - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “opal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-P-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈəʊpəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “opt” - see the side-by-side comparison. opal vs opt
- 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.