oversight
noun
Oversight — a mistake born from simple, unintentional inattention
Definition
A mistake resulting from inattention
In depth
An oversight is a mistake resulting from inattention, an error that occurs not through ignorance or poor judgment but through the simple failure to notice or account for something that should have been considered. The word carries a relatively forgiving connotation, implying carelessness rather than incompetence or malice.
Origin
The word combines 'over' with 'sight,' from Old English sihth, the act of seeing. Its dual meaning, both an error of inattention and the active supervision meant to prevent such errors, reflects a curious linguistic irony, the same word naming both the careless failure to look and the deliberate, careful act of looking closely.
Usage examples
"The missing signature was a simple oversight, quickly corrected once it was noticed."
"She apologized for the oversight, having genuinely forgotten to include the crucial attachment."
"The building inspector's oversight, though unintentional, nearly led to a serious safety hazard going unaddressed."
How to use it
Oversight is widely accessible, relatively forgiving vocabulary suited to describing errors of simple inattention, useful across professional, legal, and everyday writing wherever a writer wants to attribute a mistake to carelessness rather than deliberate wrongdoing. Writers should also note its distinct, unrelated sense of supervisory monitoring, as in 'regulatory oversight.'
Related concepts
Looking for a word but don't know its name?
Try the Word Finder →