ouch
/ˈaʊt͡ʃ/
"ouch" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ouch” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,773 in English word frequency and used as an interjection.
- #13,773
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An expression of one's own physical pain.
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 | ouch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /ˈaʊt͡ʃ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #13,773 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ouch” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ouch is 4 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈaʊt͡ʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,773 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 ouch, with forms such as "ocuh", "oucch", and "ouchh". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "out", "our", "oui", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Uncertain. Some sources say the interjection is attested since 1838 (and specifically in American English) and derives ultimately from German autsch, perhaps specifically via Pennsylvania German outch (“cry of pain”), as early attestations of the interjecti… The correct English form is ouch, spelled O-U-C-H.
Definition
- 1An expression of one's own physical pain.
- 2An expression in sympathy at another's pain.
- 3A reply to an insult seen as savage (frequently one that is tongue-in-cheek or joking).
- 4An expression of disappointment.
- 5Expressing surprise at the high price of something.
Etymology
Uncertain. Some sources say the interjection is attested since 1838 (and specifically in American English) and derives ultimately from German autsch, perhaps specifically via Pennsylvania German outch (“cry of pain”), as early attestations of the interjection are from Pennsylvania. However, others say the interjection is a "mere" or "natural" exclamation attested since the mid 1600s, and the 1933 OED cites one instance of a verb "ouch" in 1654, "Sancho Pancas Runs Ouching round the mountaine like a ranck-Asse".
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ocuh,oucch,ouchh,ouhc,uoch
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ouch - 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 “ouch”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-U-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈaʊt͡ʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “out” - see the side-by-side comparison. ouch vs out
- 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.