oversight

[ oh-ver-sahyt ]

/ ˈoʊ vərˌsaɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oversight ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an omission or error due to carelessness: My bank statement is full of oversights.

unintentional failure to notice or consider; lack of proper attention: Owing to my oversight, the letter was sent unsigned.

supervision; watchful care: a person responsible for the oversight of the organization.

Nearby words

overshoe, overshoot, overshot, overshot wheel, overside, oversight, oversimplification, oversimplify, oversize, oversized, overskirt

Origin of oversight

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at over-, sight

SYNONYMS FOR oversight

1, 2 mistake, blunder, slip.

2 lapse, neglect, inattention.

3 management, direction, control; surveillance.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oversight ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confusedoverlook oversee oversight

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for oversight

They have argued in court that they are not public and therefore they are not subject to the oversight that public entities are.
Hunger Games Comes to New York State’s Public Schools|Zephyr Teachout|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Third, the destruction: These hedge-fund managers want to eliminate all limits and oversight of charter schools.
Hunger Games Comes to New York State’s Public Schools|Zephyr Teachout|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The omission of contributor information on future reports should not be assumed to be an oversight.
Mystery Man Buys Kentucky for the GOP|Center for Public Integrity|October 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The lack of oversight is perhaps the worst aspect of this type of work.
Finally, Home Care Workers Start Fighting Back|Monica Potts|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Roark was a staffer on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and focused on NSA oversight.
Speed Read: James Risen Indicts The War On Terror’s Costly Follies|William O’Connor|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
An oversight likewise made the passage appear much more tedious, nay, almost insupportable.
Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark|Mary Wollstonecraft
Hortense felt rather ashamed when she confessed this; she also inwardly regretted such an oversight.
A Virgin Heart|Remy de Gourmont
As this might have been due to an oversight on the part of his valet it was not included in the charge.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, May 5, 1920|Various
Frowenfeld replied that it had been left by the oversight of a customer, and expressed a liking for its odor.
The Grandissimes|George Washington Cable
In a town in that State one paper, through an oversight, had been skipped altogether in the distribution of the advertising.
Sawdust & Spangles|W. C. Coup

British Dictionary definitions for oversight

oversight

/ (ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt) /

noun

an omission or mistake, esp one made through failure to notice something

supervision

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for oversight

oversight

"supervision," early 14c., from over- + sight. Meaning "omission of notice, fact of passing over without seeing" attested from late 15c.; cf. oversee.

oversight

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of oversight

Examples from the Web for oversight

British Dictionary definitions for oversight

oversight

noun

Word Origin and History for oversight

oversight