supervisor
Americannoun
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supervisors
plural
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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:
"You cannot put a supervisor behind every student."
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Flock cameras and data centers worry Lynn, the factory supervisor, who moonlights as a social-media influencer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Afterward, she told her supervisor she needed a short leave to attend to her health, but was denied.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"She was always happy, bubbly and chatty to everyone," said store supervisor Alfie Williams.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Music education in the early 20th century continued under the purview of the music supervisor, while classroom teachers were trained to teach music to their students.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Banks were encouraged to hoard these reserves both by black-letter liquidity regulations and by strenuous winking and nodding by their supervisors at the Fed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Los Angeles County supervisors earlier this year wanted to explore the potential economic impact of David Ellison’s proposed union of two historic Hollywood studios.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The other five are selected by the county supervisors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Scurries unveiled the melody ahead of a critical board of supervisors vote that could pave the way for Rucci’s data center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
When asked to explain why her white co-workers and supervisors would have trouble understanding her brother’s incarceration, Ruth explained that it was not just incarceration but “everything”—everything related to race.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
