supervisory
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does supervisory mean? Supervisory is used to describe things that involve supervision, which is the act of overseeing, watching over, and providing direction for someone or something. Supervisory is an adjective form of the verb supervise, and it’s especially used in the phrases supervisory role and supervisory capacity, both of which refer to positions that involve supervision (or positions for which supervision is a responsibility). The word supervise often refers to supervising a project or people, parents supervising their children, or a manager or supervisor supervising their employees. Supervisory is most often used in the context of supervisors in the workplace or government agencies that conduct oversight. Example: I’ve been asked to come on in a supervisory capacity to oversee the project.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of supervisory
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.
Germany's powerful IG Metall union on Thursday organised protests at VW sites across the country, as management presented their cost-cutting plans to the supervisory board.
From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026
Even Audi, controlled by Volkswagen since 1965 and wholly owned since 2020, maintains its own management board, 20-person supervisory board and all the trappings of an independent company.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026
But labour representatives and the German state of Lower Saxony -- both of whom take a dim view of possible plant closures -- together hold more than half the seats on VW's supervisory board.
From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026
There at the checkpoint I met Carl Revis, a TSA supervisory officer with a penchant for comedy.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 8, 2026
Most of the time, the work requires minimal human interaction, of either the collegial or the supervisory sort, largely because it’s so self-defining.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
