oversight
/ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt/
"oversight" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oversight” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,225 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,225
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An omission; something that is left out, missed, or forgotten.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | oversight |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #9,225 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oversight” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for oversight is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,225 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for oversight, with forms such as "oevrsight", "overisght", and "overrsight". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "overweight", "overnight", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From over- + sight. Verb sense 2 is a semantic loan from German Aufsicht. The correct English form is oversight, spelled O-V-E-R-S-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1An omission; something that is left out, missed, or forgotten.
- 2Supervision or management.
- 3Overview.
Etymology
From over- + sight. Verb sense 2 is a semantic loan from German Aufsicht.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oevrsight,overisght,overrsight,oversgiht,oversigght,oversighht,oversightt,oversigth,oversihgt,overssight,ovesright,ovresight,ovversight,voersight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of oversight - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "oversight"?
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Using “oversight”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-V-E-R-S-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “overweight” - see the side-by-side comparison. oversight vs overweight
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.