supervise

verb

su·​per·​vise ˈsü-pər-ˌvīz How to pronounce supervise (audio)
supervised; supervising
Synonyms of supervise

transitive verb

: to be in charge of : superintend, oversee
supervise a large staff
supervised the ship's daily operations

Synonyms of supervise

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of supervise in a Sentence

The builder supervised the construction of the house. She supervises a staff of 30 workers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Just north of Hartley Road in Eagle, there are 440 acres of public land currently supervised by the Bureau of Land Management. — Idaho Statesman, 2 Sep. 2026 Organizations that skipped the fluency phase and jumped straight to agents are struggling too, because a workforce that has never worked with AI cannot supervise it or spot its failure modes. — Emily Lewis-Pinnell, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Amel Guettatfi and Rakhee Jethwa served as supervising producers. — Denise Petski, Deadline, 1 Sep. 2026 Rumer Willis filed an emergency custody order to keep her ex’s visits with their daughter supervised. — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for supervise

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin supervisus, past participle of supervidēre, from Latin super- + vidēre to see — more at wit

First Known Use

circa 1645, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of supervise was circa 1645

Rhymes for supervise

See All Rhymes for supervise

Browse Nearby Words

supervisal
supervise
supervised study
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Supervise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supervise. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

supervise

verb
su·​per·​vise ˈsü-pər-ˌvīz How to pronounce supervise (audio)
supervised; supervising
: superintend, oversee
Etymology

from Latin supervisus, past participle of supervidēre "to oversee," from super- "over, above" and vidēre "to see" — related to vision

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of apiary

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All