oversight
/ˈoʊvɚˌsaɪt/noun, verb
oversight is spelled O-V-E-R-S-I-G-H-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “oversight vs oversite” about 1,600 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, oversight means “An omission; something that is left out, missed, or forgotten” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of oversight is oversights.
How many letters and syllables are in oversight?
| Letters | 9: O-V-E-R-S-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is oversight?
Oversight appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th 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 oversight?
- UK /ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt/
- US /ˈoʊvɚˌsaɪt/
- US [ˈoʊvɚˌsʌɪt]
Oversight has 3 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)-Vealhurl-oversight.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with oversight
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of oversight
- oversights plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- oversighting participle, present
- oversighted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does oversight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An omission; something that is left out, missed, or forgotten.
A small oversight at this stage can lead to big problems later.
- 2
Supervision or management.
oversight mechanism
- 3
Overview.
verb
- 1
nonstandardTo oversee; to supervise.
- 2
To suppress content in a way that removes or minimizes its visibility or viewability.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Oversight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | oubli |
| German | Versehen , Aufsicht , Überblick |
| Portuguese | descuido , superintendência, chefia, monitoração, acompanhamento, supervisão |
| Spanish | inadvertencia, descuido, omisión, error, negligencia, equivocación |
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 oversight come from?
From over- + sight. Verb sense 2 is a semantic loan from German Aufsicht.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).