overseer
Americannoun
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overseers
plural
noun
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Also called (less commonly): overlooker. a person who oversees others, esp workmen
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history short for overseer of the poor; a minor official of a parish attached to the workhouse or poorhouse
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of overseer
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at oversee, -er 1
Explanation
An overseer is a boss or manager. On a road crew that's busy fixing potholes, the overseer is the person who supervises the other workers. While the word overseer is used these days for anyone who works as an official supervisor, especially of a crew doing manual labor, the word was most common in the U.S. when slavery was legal. On a plantation where enslaved people were forced to work, it was the overseer's job to make sure they were productive, ensuring that the plantation owner made as much money as possible. Overseers could, and often did, brutally punish enslaved workers.
Vocabulary lists containing overseer
"The People Could Fly," Vocabulary from the folk tale
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Sugar Changed the World
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Chapter 14: North and South
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Lastly, I would make it a joint effort, with the daughter acting as a peer who is also learning and in need of education — not as an overseer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
One slave, George Granger, became an overseer at Monticello; Granger’s son, George Jr., ran the nail factory there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Europe’s systemic risk overseer is considering an inquiry into private-credit investing, with an eye toward any risks those loans may pose to the European Union’s financial system.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Another actor Newsbeat spoke to, Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Hank MacLean, Lucy's father and overseer of the vault, says the series is very "true to the games".
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
The overseer came in, nodded good morning, and pushed a low wooden stool under a cord dangling from the assembly of wheels and belts above his head.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
The BBC reached out to multiple church overseers for comment, but did not get a response.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
The comedian, who returned to host Monday nights in early 2024 after nearly a decade away, acknowledged recent tensions with the network’s new corporate overseers.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2025
Pasta has been eaten in southern Italy since the Middle Ages, when Sicily’s Arab overseers introduced the drying of dough as a form of preservation, according to Amadei.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
There are further Bernstein and librettist Steven Sondheim overseers to consider.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2025
Sugar was the product of the slave and the addiction of the poor factory worker—the meeting place of the barbarism of overseers such as Thomas Thistlewood and the rigid new economy.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
