supervised; supervising
Synonyms of supervise

transitive verb

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

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.
Remote operators supervised the flight from distances reaching 2,323 miles. Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026 In the Texas case, Autenrieth was hired by 3M just weeks before the trial began in a lawsuit over whether 3M should be held accountable for its role in supervising safety checks at the warehouse in Houston. Alyssa Spady, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026 The film is produced by Ann Mukherjee for Sita22 Films, with Jitin Hingorani as co-producer and creative producer, Dhanraj Sawant as executive producer and Priyangi Borthakur as supervising producer. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026 People still need to supervise systems, manage exceptions, interpret information, and make decisions. Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Supervise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supervise. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

Kids Definition

supervise

verb
supervised; supervising
Etymology

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

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