oversee
Americanverb (used with object)
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oversees,
present (3rd person singular)
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oversaw,
past
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overseen,
past participle
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overseeing
present participle
-
to direct (work or workers); supervise; manage.
He was hired to oversee the construction crews.
-
to see or observe secretly or unintentionally.
We happened to oversee the burglar leaving the premises. He was overseen stealing the letters.
-
to survey or watch, as from a higher position.
-
to look over; examine; inspect.
verb
-
to watch over and direct; supervise
-
to watch secretly or accidentally
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overseesimple
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overseessimple
-
have overseenperfect
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has overseenperfect
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am overseeingprogressive
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are overseeingprogressive
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is overseeingprogressive
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have been overseeingperfect progressive
-
has been overseeingperfect progressive
Past
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oversawsimple
-
had overseenperfect
-
was overseeingprogressive
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were overseeingprogressive
-
had been overseeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of oversee
First recorded before 900; Middle English overseen, Old English ofersēon; equivalent to over- + see 1
Explanation
To oversee is to supervise or watch over, the way a principal oversees a school or a store manager oversees everyone who works there. This verb comes from the Old English oferseon, to "look down upon," which is also how oversee was originally used. You can say, "From this hill I oversee the whole town," but today it's much more common for oversee to mean supervise. If your Spanish club puts you in charge of the bake sale, you'll oversee everything: pricing the brownies, arranging cookies on a table, and reminding volunteers when to show up.
Vocabulary lists containing oversee
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:
Workday also brought back Bhusri as chief executive in February to oversee the company’s AI push.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Johns, who was brought on to oversee the team’s business in April, said things are changing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Guinea's Prime Minister Mamadou Oury Bah visited the scene to assess the situation and oversee the search efforts.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Your future CFP, if you found one you could trust, could oversee the entire shebang with your accountant, assuming you have one.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
He could oversee the reorganization of his allies.
From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby
In Beirut, whose history spans over 5,000 years, Laure Salloum oversees archaeological excavations in the chaotic modern city.
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
Now, in an echo of history, he is dealing with new price pressures fed by another war while Bessent oversees the economic statecraft aimed at bringing that war to an end.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The show’s corporate sponsors are companies that the Department of Transportation oversees, and Boeing is one such sponsor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
In theory, the internal medicine or family medicine doctor oversees your preventive care, ongoing symptoms, chronic conditions, and referrals to specialists.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
I know that Walter is the man who oversees the theater, who helps falsify papers for the children in the crèche.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
It is exactly 30 days since predecessor Eddie Howe oversaw what proved to be his final match in charge, a sobering 4-1 friendly defeat against Bristol City, before stepping down.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
There the officers oversaw readiness planning and procedures for a mobilization of the region’s residents, with details on how to house, feed and arm them, said Western intelligence officials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Washington selected the site for the President’s House and oversaw aspects of its planning and construction, but left office in 1797 and died in 1799.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Okuda also oversaw the opening of Toyota factories abroad on the firm's way to overtaking General Motors as the world's largest automaker by vehicle sales.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
In 1997, Lewyn discovered a published diary, kept by a factory manager who oversaw Trawniki inmates as they sewed coats, hats, and shoes for the German army.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The drones are not remotely controlled but are overseen by on-site flight monitors who track airspace and work with local airports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
The spending would have been spread out over more than five years and overseen by the defence ministry.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
The loss of the assets is a remarkable twist for the heirs of Oswaldo Cisneros, who died in 2020 and whose businesses are now overseen by his widow and children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The new unit, overseen by senior minister Louise Haigh, has been tasked with being the "dominant driver of the UK's economy".
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
There were many portraits that had to be taken from Gresham College to Crane Court, and this was overseen by the obsessive stickler for detail Sir Isaac Newton.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
See: Apple CEO Tim Cook to step down after overseeing 1,900% stock surge.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
He messaged the number from the ad three times before an officer overseeing the sting responded, the report said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
CEO Robert Flexon has a history of overseeing divestitures and takeovers at companies he led.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The settlement still needs to pass muster with the judge who was overseeing the trial.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
What mattered was that the general public didn’t have a problem pouring millions of dollars into training and overseeing Glitchers as long as it kept the future intact.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
