oversight
Americannoun
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- surveillance, control, direction, management
noun
-
an omission or mistake, esp one made through failure to notice something
-
supervision
Etymology
Origin of oversight
Explanation
An oversight is a mistake you make when you're not paying full attention. Your failure to add the sugar to the cookies was an unfortunate oversight — you were so engrossed in texting that you forgot it. Oversights are not intentional mistakes. Usually they're just the result of inattention. If you make an oversight in your inspection of a nuclear power plant and it later goes into meltdown, you'll get fired. An inspector is supposed to pay attention. But if you forgot your cousin's birthday because you're busy taking care of Grandma, that's a forgivable oversight. Oversight is also the act of supervising something, like the construction of a dam, or a high school prom.
Vocabulary lists containing oversight
Two-Faced Words: Contronyms
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This Week in Words: January 27 - February 2, 2018
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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.
Drug approval, product safety, and nuclear oversight require regulators to have a detailed understanding of hazards and mitigations beforehand.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
Away from the cameras, like many TV productions, CPL said it vets contributors before casting, carries out psychological checks, and provides oversight by a trained welfare team and access to psychologists and ongoing support.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
He packed oversight commissions with appointees who would rubber-stamp his delusions of grandeur and did the same with the Kennedy Center, whose new board promptly renamed the performing arts venue for him.
From Slate • May 18, 2026
Private credit is growing rapidly in the EU, prompting calls for increased oversight from European Central Bank officials.
From Barron's • May 14, 2026
That was just an oversight on their part, I reckon.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
