oversight

American  

[oh-ver-sahyt] / ˈoʊ vərˌsaɪt /

noun

• oversights
  plural

1. an omission or error due to carelessness.

   My bank statement is full of oversights.

   Synonyms:

   slip, blunder, mistake

2. unintentional failure to notice or consider; lack of proper attention.

   Owing to my oversight, the letter was sent unsigned.

   Synonyms:

   inattention, neglect, lapse, slip, blunder, mistake

3. supervision; watchful care.

   a person responsible for the oversight of the organization.

   Synonyms:

   surveillance, control, direction, management

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oversight British  

/ ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt /

noun

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

2. supervision

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• oversights
  plural

Etymology

Origin of oversight

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; over- + sight

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oversight oversights

There is something genuinely disorienting about reading all of this in a Senate oversight letter and arriving at Taco Bell as the comparatively lucid party.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Without oversight of the land, protecting the chi has been an upstream battle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

The three rounds of pandemic stimulus checks approved in 2020 and 2021 came to about $814 billion in total, according to federal oversight data.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

On Wednesday Paul Christiano, a top AI safety expert, joined the OpenAI Foundation board to work on oversight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

By some huge oversight on her part, Beth left her diary right out in plain sight when she went to California.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

Estate-planning crises usually come down to small oversights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

But many cases come down to small oversights — and the people caught off guard are often the ones who thought they had it taken care of.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Alejandro, the gas station attendant, said he felt there were "too few oversights" of mining projects.

From Barron's ● May 23, 2026

Mistakes or oversights in DOT regulations could lead to lawsuits or even injuries and deaths in the transportation system.

From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2026

And the messy apartment I was sure to walk into; the flight numbers and so forth left deliberately, so it now seemed, by the phone; both were oversights unworthy of Henry.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• control
• handling
• inspection
• maintenance
• management
• surveillance