supervise
Americanverb (used with object)
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supervises,
present (3rd person singular)
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supervised,
past participle, past
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supervising
present participle
verb
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to direct or oversee the performance or operation of
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to watch over so as to maintain order, etc
Usage
What does supervise mean? Supervise means to oversee, watch over, and provide direction for someone or something. You can supervise a project or process as it’s happening, but most of the time the word refers to supervising people, especially parents supervising their children or a manager or supervisor supervising their employees. The noun form of supervise is supervision. Someone being supervised is said to be under supervision. When it’s used in the context of adults watching children, the word often appears in the phrases parental supervision and adult supervision. Children or other people who can’t be left alone are said to need constant supervision. When they are left alone, they’re said to be unsupervised. The adjective form supervisory describes things that involve supervision, such as in the phrases supervisory role and supervisory capacity. Example: The key to supervising your employees effectively is giving them enough space to do their jobs, instead of constantly standing over their shoulders.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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supervisionnoun
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presuperviseverb (used with object)
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nonsupervisingadjective
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quasi-supervisedadjective
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unsupervisedadjective
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well-supervisedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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supervisesimple
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supervisessimple
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have supervisedperfect
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has supervisedperfect
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am supervisingprogressive
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are supervisingprogressive
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is supervisingprogressive
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have been supervisingperfect progressive
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has been supervisingperfect progressive
Past
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supervisedsimple
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had supervisedperfect
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was supervisingprogressive
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were supervisingprogressive
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had been supervisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of supervise
First recorded in 1580–90; from Medieval Latin supervīsus “overseen,” past participle of supervidēre “to oversee,” from super- super- + vidēre “to see”; see also wit 2
Explanation
If your mother asks you to supervise your little brother and his friends, it means she'd like you to keep an eye on them. The verb supervise has origins in the Latin word supervidere, from super-, meaning “over” and videre, meaning “to see.” When you supervise something, it means you oversee the project, managing the people working on it, perhaps by figuring out what needs to be done, assigning the work, and making sure it gets done properly. You serve as the boss when you supervise; other people are the workers.
Vocabulary lists containing supervise
Power Prefix: super-
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Common Senses: Vid, Vis ("See")
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A Résumé of Active Words
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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:
State officials do not supervise the agricultural commissioners, who are appointed by and report to their elected boards of supervisors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Putin appointed former Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin to supervise the company’s evolution into a wider online-payments system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Managing the risk is possible, Lahav said, but the more capable these systems get, the harder they are to supervise.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Students either catalog recovered artifacts, most of which are ceramics, or "broken pots," as Anderson described them, or supervise excavation trenches.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026
Scott Mathis, the Big Hill Trading Company owner who was friends with Hale and Mollie, was asked to supervise the grim task, and he went to the cemetery with his undertaker and a grave digger.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
His company, Film Leader Co., supervises film restorations and runs technical operations for a smattering of cinema houses across the country.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
The key element is making sure that a physician supervises your visits and is available in person when needed by you or the associate.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
He also supervises the Guardian Council, which has the power to vet electoral candidates and veto parliamentary legislation.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2026
Panama’s Port Authority, which supervises the terminals, said on Friday that it has implemented a transition plan to ensure the continuity of operations at the two ports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Vincent is a jack of all trades: he supervises shipments, keeps the account books, runs errands, and does whatever other odd jobs need doing.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Dr Ken Collins, of the University of Southampton, who supervised the study, said: "Studland Bay is becoming a powerful example of how practical conservation measures can reverse habitat damage and deliver measurable environmental improvements."
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The approach also differs from some "black box" machine learning systems because it is supervised.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
But then on Thursday, a felony arrest warrant was filed for Shrine for alleged violation of post-release community supervision, a type of supervised release similar to parole, in Contra Costa County.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
By contrast, she said, an end-to-end autonomous defense system that’s supervised by humans can reduce that time to minutes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
“Woodchuck Lodge,” I read on the door, “is a National Monument supervised by the National Park Service.”
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Maan, 61, of Ashford, Kent, was the crane supervisor responsible for overseeing and supervising lifting operations on the site.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
They also argue that humans will probably remain in the loop, supervising that process—and gating how fast it can occur.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
A Shinjuku official supervising holiday rentals told AFP that the district was "planning to revise the current ordinance... to ban private lodging" in residential zones and areas near schools.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
The fire service is urging residents to use fireworks responsibly, including supervising sparklers carefully, and reminding people that fireworks must not be sold to under-18s or set off in public places.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
They went off to find the Afrikaner in the barn, supervising the birth of a calf.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
