oughts

/ɔːts/

//ɔːts// noun

"oughts" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“oughts” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of ought

Corpus desk

Index EN-oughts · oughts · English

oughts · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for oughts
PropertyValue
Headwordoughts
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɔːts/
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “oughts” in English

oughtsranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

oughts is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɔːts/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "plural of ought".

oughts doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is oughts, spelled O-U-G-H-T-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of ought

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "oughts"?
"oughts" is spelled O-U-G-H-T-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɔːts/.
What does "oughts" mean?
As a noun, "oughts" means: plural of ought
How do you pronounce "oughts"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oughts" is /ɔːts/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "oughts" come from?
"oughts" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list