oversight or oversite

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A mistake caused by forgetting or failing to notice something.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say 'an oversight' or 'several oversights'.

   Patterns

   • by oversight
   • a minor oversight
   • an oversight in something

   The missing signature was a simple oversight.

   Due to an oversight, the package was sent to the old address.

   She apologized for the oversight in the report.

2. 2noununcountableformal

   The job of watching and checking that a process, organization, or person is working correctly.

   Grammar: Uncountable: no plural and no 'a/an'. Often used with 'of' or 'over'.

   Patterns

   • oversight of something
   • oversight over someone/something
   • under someone's oversight

   The committee has oversight of the city's budget.

   Independent oversight is needed to prevent abuse.

   The project was completed under the oversight of a senior engineer.

Word forms

Common combinations

a simple oversight

Forgetting to attach the file was a simple oversight.

an oversight in something

There was an oversight in the billing process.

by oversight

The name was left off by oversight.

government oversight

The new law increases government oversight of banks.

oversight committee

The oversight committee meets every month.

Synonyms and how they differ

mistake

Mistake is the general word for any error; oversight specifically suggests you forgot or failed to notice something.

omission

Omission is more formal and focuses on something left out; oversight can also mean the act of supervising.

supervision

Supervision means watching over work or people; it matches only the second sense of oversight, not the 'mistake' sense.

Word family

oversee verb

To watch and check that a job or activity is done correctly.

overseer noun

A person whose job is to supervise workers or a process.

Commonly confused: oversight or oversite or oversite?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “oversight or oversite”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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