Oops

//uːps// intj, noun, verb, slang

intj, noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A minor mistake or unforeseen difficulty.

    "It's an oops, but one that's your fault, not your puppy's."

  2. 2
    Abbreviation of object-oriented programming system. abbreviation, alt-of
  3. 3
    plural of OOP form-of, plural
Verb
  1. 1
    To make a mistake; to blunder. colloquial, intransitive
  2. 2
    third-person singular simple present indicative of OOP form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Intj
  1. 1
    Acknowledging a mistake. colloquial

    "Oops! I left the lid off the ketchup."

Synonyms

All synonyms
oopsyoopsysilly meuh ohuh-ohwhoops

Example

More examples

"Oops, my pen has run out of ink."

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.

Related phrases

oops baby

More for "oops"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.