oversight
oversight Lexical Profile
oversight Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An unintentional failure to notice or do something; an inadvertent omission or mistake.
"Leaving her name off the guest list was a regrettable oversight on the organizer's part."
The action of overseeing, supervising, or managing a process, organization, or activity.
"The congressional committee is responsible for regulatory oversight of the banking sector."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Oversight" is a notable contronym (auto-antonym) with two nearly opposite meanings: as a countable noun, it refers to an unintentional failure to notice something, whereas as an uncountable noun, it means careful supervision or watchful management.
• Rhymes for oversight
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Dating back to the 14th century, the word combines "over-" and "sight" and originally meant both watchful supervision (looking over something) and an inadvertent omission (looking past something).