overlook
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overlooks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overlooked,
past participle, past
-
overlooking
present participle
-
to fail to notice, perceive, or consider.
to overlook a misspelled word.
- Synonyms:
- miss
-
to disregard or ignore indulgently, as faults or misconduct.
Only a parent could overlook that kind of behavior.
-
to look over, as from a higher position.
a balcony that overlooks the ballroom.
-
to afford a view over; look down or out upon.
a hill overlooking the sea.
-
to rise above.
The Washington Monument overlooks the tidal basin.
-
a minor infraction we can overlook this time.
-
to look over in inspection, examination, or perusal.
They allowed us to overlook the proposed contract.
-
to look after, oversee, or supervise.
She has to overlook a large number of employees.
-
Archaic. to look upon with the evil eye; bewitch.
noun
-
overlooks
plural
verb
-
to fail to notice or take into account
-
to disregard deliberately or indulgently
-
to look at or over from above
the garden is overlooked by the prison
-
to afford a view of from above
the house overlooks the bay
-
to rise above
-
to look after
-
to look at carefully
-
to bewitch or cast the evil eye upon (someone)
noun
-
a high place affording a view
-
an act of overlooking
Synonym Usage
See slight.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overlooksimple
-
overlookssimple
-
have overlookedperfect
-
has overlookedperfect
-
am overlookingprogressive
-
are overlookingprogressive
-
is overlookingprogressive
-
have been overlookingperfect progressive
-
has been overlookingperfect progressive
Past
-
overlookedsimple
-
had overlookedperfect
-
was overlookingprogressive
-
were overlookingprogressive
-
had been overlookingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overlook
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English; see origin at over-, look
Explanation
To overlook something is to fail to see it. When planning a party, it's best to write out a to-do list so that you don't overlook any details. The verb overlook literally means to look over the top of. The word has come to refer to the act of neglecting something, usually because your focus is aimed elsewhere. You might overlook the cost of car insurance if you’re busy calculating the cost of buying the car and paying for gas and parking. As a noun, an overlook is a space high above ground. You might overlook your curfew if you're busy enjoying an overlook with your date.
Vocabulary lists containing overlook
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Vocabulary from the Lyrics of Pete Seeger
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"Why Women Should Vote" by Jane Addams (1910)
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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:
But the growth rate has caught the attention of some investment professionals who worry the attractive yields are causing some to overlook, or otherwise miss, the risks.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
It will be located on the former site of the Golden Bear Theatre and will overlook the recently refurbished kiddie area, Looney Tunes Land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
These categories are useful, but they can overlook important differences between populations that have adapted to different environments within the human body.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
They are astonishingly adaptable and, perhaps for exactly that reason, easy to overlook.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Cruelly, callously, admissions committees agreed to overlook serious academic deficiency.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
A mile-long boardwalk overlooks the beach, as does the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, which has its own popular blufftop trail.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Mao's face is printed on banknotes, his portrait overlooks Tiananmen Square, and his body is preserved in a mausoleum.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
The property also boasts 740 square feet of decking—and a large swimming pool that overlooks the ocean.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
The Bus Yard bar in Crosby, which overlooks the beach, has said it will be open during the course of the eclipse and will be hosting live music.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
There’s a bedroom and a living room with a curved glass window stretching from floor to ceiling that overlooks a glittering Tokyo.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Yes, she might have made mistakes and overlooked certain things, but there does not seem to be overwhelming evidence of cognitive decline.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Across town, Independent 20th Century, now being staged in the Breuer Building, highlights overlooked artists from the past century as well as less-studied aspects of well-known creators’ careers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The most likely explanation is that some subtle experimental effect has been overlooked.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
But now she says this important part of her identity is frequently overlooked due to her age.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Of course, she asked me why I’d said that, and we told her about the pin she’d overlooked.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Investors wary of CoreWeave’s leverage levels may be overlooking the safeguards built into the company’s financing structures, Keirstead continued.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
There was one thing missing when a wealthy Missouri couple purchased their oceanfront home overlooking Camden Harbor in Maine: the million-dollar view.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
It seized control of significant new territory across Yemen's south-western coast last week, including areas overlooking the crucial Bab al-Mandab waterway, strengthening its ability to enforce its declared blockade of Saudi shipping.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Regulators grappling with the risks of private credit may be overlooking fund-level debt, which helps private lenders manage cash flows and, in some cases, juice the returns on good deals, WSJ Pro’s Chris Cumming writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Her name is Jacalyn, and she has two little girls in the Silk Isles, and they drink rose lemonade and lie in hammocks on their private beach overlooking the Bay of Silk.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Definitions 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.
