oops
[oo ps, oops]
- (used to express mild dismay, chagrin, surprise, etc., as at one's own mistake, a clumsy act, or social blunder.)
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Origin of oops
First recorded in 1925–30; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
exclamation, wow, amen, hello, alas, boo, hurrah, ahem, oh, whoopee, hooray, shucks, er, ouch, rah, ah, egad, golly, hey, huhExamples from the Web for oops
Contemporary Examples
Unlike the chaste boys club devotees of ‘Dungeons and Losers’ (oops, ‘Dragons’) of yore, women play the new games and like them.
And so, a few months later, Smith announced he was leaving the race at last and that—oops!
This includes things like pharmacies, which sometimes don't have the cash to order new drugs, and oops!
Sorry, Folks: One Way or the Other, You'll Never Be Able to Completely Count on RetirementMegan McArdle
March 15, 2013
In the end, you've got a study of unusually compliant and stable people (who may be different in all sorts of ways) and oops!
He runs the secret government agency trying to kill Jason—oops, I mean Aaron—and Marta.
Historical Examples
There was a tremendous crash from the kitchen, a shriek of surprise, then a small “oops.”
MakersCory Doctorow
He saw my look and said, "Oops, I mean this milestone in paper technology once it is announced to the world."
The Professional ApproachCharles Leonard Harness
oops
- an exclamation of surprise or of apology as when someone drops something or makes a mistake
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for oops
"a natural exclamation" [OED] of surprise at doing something awkward, but attested only from 1933 (cf. whoops).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper