Which to use
“obs” is a verb and “oops” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,851
- “obs” frequency rank
- #35,621
- “oops” frequency rank
- 49472
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obs | oops |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de obsen. | Oups. |
Where the eye mixes obs and oops
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between obs and oops
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obs is \ɔps\ while oops is \ups\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obs is recorded at frequency rank #13,851, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔps\. oops is at rank #35,621, tagged as anintj, pronounced \ups\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 49472, this pair ranks #170,373 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obs vs oops
Shared letters: os. Private to "obs": b. Private to "oops": p.
"obs" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "oops" · 4 letters · shape VVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- oops ← oopps · oopss · oosp · opos
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obs" and "oops" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "obs" or "oops" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "obs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "oops" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,373 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obs" and "oops" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ones vs oops". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #170,373 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.