obsvsoptWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“obs” and “opt” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,851
“obs” frequency rank
#42,502
“opt” frequency rank
56353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obs opt
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de obsen. Opter.

Where the eye mixes obs and opt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
obs
3 ch
opt

Visual trap between obs and opt

A purely visual mix-up. obs (\ɔps\) and opt (\ɒpt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56353, 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\. opt is at rank #42,502, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɒpt\.

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 56353, this pair ranks #121,622 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obs vs opt

Shared letters: o. Private to "obs": bs. Private to "opt": pt.

"obs" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "opt" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obs" and "opt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɔps\ versus \ɒpt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "obs" vs "opt" - which ranks higher?
"obs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,851 in our French list, against #42,502 for "opt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "obs" and "opt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "opt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #121,622 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obs" and "opt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "och vs opt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #121,622 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list