oops
/ups/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.73 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Example Sentences
- "Oops! I left the lid off the ketchup."
- "Oops, I did it again / I played with your heart, got lost in the game"
- "It's an oops, but one that's your fault, not your puppy's."
- "Every plan and every activity has an “oops.” Oops, we forgot to..., oops, who was supposed to do that? We all have experienced “oopses”."
- "Isn't she the same woman who works at Wings that you and Billy almost got arrested for helping her with her last little oops?"
- "My parents had moved to this house, which sat on the border of Corktown and Mexicantown, from their tiny apartment in Ann Arbor—once they found out that their little oops was actually two little oops."
Etymology
A presumably 'natural' exclamation, attested in writing since 1921. Related to or a variation of whoops (itself attested since 1933). A shortening of whoops-a-daisy, whoopsie-daisy, or oops-a-daisy, which in turn is a mispronunciation of ups-a-daisy or upsy-daisy.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ups/
- British English: /uːps/