overseer
/ˈəʊvəˌsiːə(ɹ)/noun
overseer is spelled O-V-E-R-S-E-E-R: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, overseer means “The manager of a plantation of slaves” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of overseer is overseers.
How many letters and syllables are in overseer?
| Letters | 8: O-V-E-R-S-E-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is overseer?
Overseer appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce overseer?
- /ˈəʊvəˌsiːə(ɹ)/
Overseer has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Sapaa-overseer.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of overseer
- overseers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overseer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The manager of a plantation of slaves.
- 2
An officer responsible for the care of the poor, making out lists of voters and those who had not paid taxes, etc.
- 3
obsoleteA critic.
- 4
obsoleteA bishop.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Overseer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense one who oversees:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contremaître, chef |
| German | Aufseher, Aufseherin |
| Portuguese | feitor |
| Spanish | capataz, sobrestante, caporal, caporalista |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does overseer come from?
From oversee + -er.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).