supervisor

American  

[soo-per-vahy-zer] / ˈsu pərˌvaɪ zər /

noun

supervisors plural

1. a person who supervises workers or the work done by others; superintendent.

2. Education. an official responsible for assisting teachers in the preparation of syllabuses, in devising teaching methods, etc., in a department of instruction, especially in public schools.

3. (in some U.S. states) the chief elected administrative officer of a township, who is often also a member of the governing board of the county.

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supervisor British  

/ ˈsuːpəˌvaɪzə /

noun

1. a person who manages or supervises

2. a foreman or forewoman

3. (in some British universities) a tutor supervising the work, esp research work, of a student

4. (in some US schools) an administrator running a department of teachers

5. (in some US states) the elected chief official of a township or other subdivision of a county

6. obsolete a spectator

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Usage

What does supervisor mean? A supervisor is someone who oversees and provides direction for someone or something. More simply, a supervisor is someone who supervises. It’s most commonly used in the context of the workplace to refer to a type of manager who supervises other employees. The adjective supervisory describes things that involve supervision. A supervisor’s role can be described as supervisory. Supervisor can be used more specifically in the context of education to refer to a type of official or tutor or in the context of government to refer to a type of elected local official who serves on a board with other supervisors. Example: The key to being a good supervisor is to give your employees enough space to do their jobs, instead of constantly standing over their shoulders.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• presupervisor
  noun
• supervisorship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• supervisors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of supervisor

1425–75; late Middle English < Medieval Latin supervīsor, equivalent to supervid-, stem of supervidēre to supervise + -tor -tor, with dt > s

Explanation

A supervisor is the person in charge at your job, who monitors you as you work. Your supervisor prepared you for the world of sneaker sales, and makes sure you don't give them away free to your friends. To supervise means to oversee, so a supervisor is someone whose job it is to oversee everyone else as they work. If you're the supervisor of a big kitchen, you probably won't spend time chopping onions, but instead wander around making sure everyone has their hair back and is using the right ingredients and working quickly. Sometimes in very complex problems, a whole organization can be a supervisor, like a city department that oversees the police.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

supervisor supervisors

The office of county supervisor Kathryn Barger is aware of the complaints of Toluca Lake residents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Losurdo conducted the experiment with her supervisor, Professor David McKenzie.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

Eventually, Chase became an all-purpose filmmaker—actor, director, supervisor, architect of the “Our Gang” series in its earliest incarnation, and master of every department at once.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

The allegations of theft at one of India's most revered and politically consequential temples were made by a former accounts supervisor who says he was dismissed after raising concerns about alleged wrongdoing internally.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Adults reduced to children, sitting with finger paints; a jolly supervisor telling them that everything they do is great.

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

Persimmon put a number of safety measures in place in the aftermath of the fire, including "waking watches" and fire supervisors.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

In Maricopa County, election responsibilities are divided between the recorder and the board of supervisors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

When meeting potential music supervisors for “Elle,” Kittrell, Dries and Neustadter asked candidates to submit playlists that captured their high school selves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

Each of the five county supervisors has an appointee.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Computing pools attached to specific tunnels or branches grew larger, spawned their own supervisors, and gave the female professionals the opportunity to specialize in a particular subfield of aeronautics.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• administrator
• chief
• chieftain
• director
• employer
• executive
• leader
• owner