typo

¹

[tahy-poh]

noun

Informal.

plural

typos 

1. typographical error.

typo-

²

1. a combining form representing type in compound words.

   typography, typology.

typo.

³

abbreviation

1. typographer.

2. typographic.

3. typographical.

4. typography.

typo

¹

/ ˈtaɪpəʊ /

noun

1. Also called (Brit): literal. informal,  a typographical error

typo.

²

abbreviation

1. variants of typ.

Word History and Origins

Origin of typo¹

1890–95; shortened form; -o

Example Sentences

When I saw UCLA’s game against Penn State was being designated a “Blue Out,” I figured it had to be a typo.

From Los Angeles Times

The government said its new measures would prevent charges caused by issues such as payment machine errors, accidental typos, or poor mobile signal.

From BBC

“But if you replace that process with AI, even if you write higher quality stuff with less typos and more coherent sentences, it replaces the learning process so that the learning quality is lower.”

From Salon

Asked when she learned that some multiple-choice questions had typos, Wilson said after the exam “when I saw it on Reddit.”

From Los Angeles Times

Walker said that number appeared to be a typo.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blemish 
• bug 
• defect 
• failing 
• fault 
• foible 
• glitch 
• pitfall 
• weakness 

When To Use

What is a typo?

Typo is short for typographical error—a mistake made when typing something.The term typically refers to an unintentional error that happens when you accidentally hit the wrong key on a keyboard—the kind of mistake that autocorrect is supposed to catch and automatically fix when you’re typing a document or texting. For example, typing teh when you mean to type the is a common typo.Typos often result in misspellings, but, technically, not all misspellings are typos. It wouldn’t be quite accurate to call a misspelling a typo if you spelled the word that way on purpose. Still, people often use the word this way, especially when politely pointing out misspellings in things that other people have typed.The term typographical error can also refer to an error made during the printing process, such as due to a mechanical issue, but this sense of the term is much less commonly usedExample: I should have proofread my proposal because as I was presenting it I noticed a typo right on the title slide.