Which to use
“off” is an adjective and “opt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,054
- “off” frequency rank
- #42,502
- “opt” frequency rank
- 47556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | off | opt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hors antenne ; non diffusé. | Opter. |
Where the eye mixes off and opt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses off with opt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: off is \ɔf\ while opt is \ɒpt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
off is recorded at frequency rank #5,054, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔf\. 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 47556, this pair ranks #186,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of off vs opt
Shared letters: o. Private to "off": f. Private to "opt": pt.
"off" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "opt" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "off" for "opt" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "off" or "opt" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "off" and "opt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "off" 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 #186,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "off" and "opt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "och vs opt". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #186,024 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.