supervisor
Americannoun
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a person who supervises workers or the work done by others; superintendent.
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Education. an official responsible for assisting teachers in the preparation of syllabuses, in devising teaching methods, etc., in a department of instruction, especially in public schools.
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(in some U.S. states) the chief elected administrative officer of a township, who is often also a member of the governing board of the county.
noun
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a person who manages or supervises
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a foreman or forewoman
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(in some British universities) a tutor supervising the work, esp research work, of a student
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(in some US schools) an administrator running a department of teachers
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(in some US states) the elected chief official of a township or other subdivision of a county
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obsolete a spectator
Usage
What does supervisor mean? A supervisor is someone who oversees and provides direction for someone or something. More simply, a supervisor is someone who supervises. It’s most commonly used in the context of the workplace to refer to a type of manager who supervises other employees. The adjective supervisory describes things that involve supervision. A supervisor’s role can be described as supervisory. Supervisor can be used more specifically in the context of education to refer to a type of official or tutor or in the context of government to refer to a type of elected local official who serves on a board with other supervisors. Example: The key to being a good supervisor is to give your employees enough space to do their jobs, instead of constantly standing over their shoulders.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of supervisor
1425–75; late Middle English < Medieval Latin supervīsor, equivalent to supervid-, stem of supervidēre to supervise + -tor -tor, with dt > s
Explanation
A supervisor is the person in charge at your job, who monitors you as you work. Your supervisor prepared you for the world of sneaker sales, and makes sure you don't give them away free to your friends. To supervise means to oversee, so a supervisor is someone whose job it is to oversee everyone else as they work. If you're the supervisor of a big kitchen, you probably won't spend time chopping onions, but instead wander around making sure everyone has their hair back and is using the right ingredients and working quickly. Sometimes in very complex problems, a whole organization can be a supervisor, like a city department that oversees the police.
Vocabulary lists containing supervisor
Like A Boss: Words for the Person in Charge
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List 7
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 7
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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:
He had worked as a construction site supervisor for 26 years after moving to Japan from Pakistan and speaks fluent Japanese.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Losurdo conducted the experiment with her supervisor, Professor David McKenzie.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Barzar has been asked to become a supervisor but has declined.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Barzar makes a good self-checkout employee because he is outgoing, attentive to detail and his voice carries, said Erik Fila, a register-area supervisor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
In 1933, at the age of twenty-one, Marina went along with her supervisor, Aleksandr Belyakov, as his navigator on a flight expedition sponsored by the Zhukovsky Academy.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
It also included $500,000 of discretionary funds that supervisors allocated to assist affected residents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
The local authority was recruiting for eight beach lifeguards and four beach lifeguard supervisors earlier this year, to cover the beach from 18 July to 1 September.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
In Maricopa County, election responsibilities are divided between the recorder and the board of supervisors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
When it came time to vote initially, not all of the supervisors completely agreed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Girls now reported directly to their engineers or to the computer supervisors attached to the group.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
