Word.ws English Dictionary

overlook

Syllables: over·look/ˈəʊvəˌlʊk//ˈoʊvəɹˌlʊk/

overlook noun: a vista or point that gives a view down toward something else.

overlook: a vista or point that gives a view down toward something else
Image: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

overlook (plural overlooks)

  1. A vista or point that gives a view down toward something else.
    • Normally a visitor does not participate in one activity to the exclusion of others. One main activity, such as swimming, will be supplemented by other activities and use of other facilities, such as picnicking, hiking, stopping at an overlook, and so forth.1980, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (N.R.A.), General Management Plan

Verb

overlook (third-person singular simple present overlooks, present participle overlooking, simple past and past participle overlooked)

  1. To offer a view (of something) from a higher position.
    • Our hotel room overlooks the lake.
    • […] I took my Gun, and went on Shore, climbing up upon a Hill, which seem’d to over-look that Point, where I saw the full Extent of it, and resolv’d to venture.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 163
  2. To fail to notice; to look over and beyond (anything) without seeing it.
    • These errors were overlooked by the proofreaders.
    • Let not thy Garden be without this herbe Humilitie. It may be least respected with men; and among other herbs ouerlooked; but most acceptable to God.1616, Thomas Adams, “Hysope and Humilitie”, in A Divine Herball, London: John Budge
  3. To pretend not to have noticed (something, especially a mistake or flaw); to pass over (something) without censure or punishment.
    • I’m not willing to overlook such bad behaviour.
    • Euery circumstance is full of improbabilities: Faith euermore ouerlookes the difficulties of the way, & bends her eyes onely to the certainty of the end.1615, Joseph Hall, Contemplations vpon the Principal Passages of the Holie Historie, London: Nathanael Butter and William Butler, Volume 3, “Ehud and Eglon,” page 48
  4. To look down upon from above or from a higher location.
    • The hill overlooks the valley.
    • There was not farre fro thence / About the middle of the Laund a rising ground, from whence / A man might ouerlooke the fieldes.1567, Ovid, “The Seventh Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC
  5. (archaic, sometimes non-native speakers' English) To supervise, oversee; to watch over.
    • to overlook a gang of laborers
    • to overlook one who is writing a letter
  6. (archaic) To observe or watch (someone or something) surreptitiously or secretly.
    • […] you had need cause the party whome you will drawe to sit […] without stirring or altering the mouth were it neuer so little: wherefore you shall I beleeue find (a mans face) aboue all other creaturs the most troublesome vnto you: for either they will smile, be ouerlooking your hand, or setting...1606, Henry Peacham, chapter VII, in The Art of Drawing with the Pen, London: William Jones, book 1, page 20
    • I lean’d back in my Chair, and overlook’d what he was doing.—But, as if the young Rogue had had Eyes in his Elbows, he broke off what he had begun, and writ, thus, in a new Place.—If an impertinent Old Fellow, that sits by me, did not overlook what I am writing, I should have told you a pleasant...1724, Aaron Hill, The Plain Dealer, No. 33, 13 July, 1724, The Plain Dealer, London: S. Richardson and A. Wilde, 1730, page 269
  7. (archaic) To inspect (something); to examine; to look over carefully or repeatedly.
    • And therefore I trust thou vvylt accept it as it is, specially considering, that I neither had leysure, nor quietnesse at the dooing of it, neither after the dooing had euer any tyme to ouerlooke it, but vvas driuen to deliuer it to the Printer, as I fyrst vvrote it […]1577, Barnabe Googe, Foure bookes of husbandry, collected by M. Conradus Heresbachius, London, The Epistle to the Reader
    • Now when he had ouerlooked his armie ouer euerie side, he paused awhile, and after with a lowd voice and bold spirit spake to his companions these, or the like words following.1587, Raphael Holinshed et al., “Richard the third”, in Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, volume 3, page 757
  8. (archaic) To look upon with an evil eye; to bewitch by looking upon; to fascinate.
    • [B]eshrew your eyes, / They have o'erlook'd me and divided me; / One half of me is yours, the other half yours,— / Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours, / And so all yours![…]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

overlook meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

overlook in Tamil

புறக்கணி, மிகு சுமை, மிகு பளு

overlook in Urdu

نظر انداز کرنا, طرح دینا

overlook in Bengali

উপেক্ষা করা, এড়িয়ে যাওয়া, উপর থেকে দেখা

overlook in Malayalam

കൂടുതൽ ഉയർന്ന സ്ഥാനത്തുനിന്ന് നോക്കുക, അവഗണിക്കുക, മാപ്പു കൊടുക്കുക, കണ്ടില്ലെന്ന് നടിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
overlook in Kannada
ಕಡೆಗಣಿಸು kaḍegaṇisu
overlook in Punjabi
بھلنا bhullṇā, ਭੁੱਲਣਾ bhullaṇā, ਉਕਾਉਣਾ ukāuṇā
overlook in Pashto
تېروتل terwatə́l
overlook in Arabic
صَفَحَ ṣafaḥa
overlook in Thai
มองข้าม
overlook in Vietnamese
bỏ qua

Examples of overlook in a sentence

  • Swinging sharply westwards, it emerges on to the Undercliff, overlooking the English Channel.1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:
  • […] she saw a figure standing by the rail of the balcony that overlooked the backyard.1950, Nevil Shute, chapter 6, in A Town Like Alice, London: Heinemann, published 1952, page 188:
  • But this detail also has been overlooked in the Deerslayer tale.1895 July, Mark Twain, “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses”, in North American Review:
  • In the bar I afterwards found some biscuits and sandwiches that had been overlooked.1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter VII, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, (please...

All 40 example sentences with overlook

Synonyms of overlook

27 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of overlook

Forms of overlook

Noun
pluraloverlooks
Verb
third-person singular presentoverlooks
present participleoverlooking
past participleoverlooked
pastoverlooked

Past tense of overlook: overlooked

Plural of overlook: overlooks

Origin of overlook

Inherited from Middle English overloken. From Middle English overloken; equivalent to over- + look.

Words formed from overlook

Words that rhyme with overlook

38 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about overlook

What does overlook mean?
Overlook means a vista or point that gives a view down toward something else.
What is overlook in Tamil?
Overlook in Tamil is புறக்கணி, மிகு சுமை, மிகு பளு. See Overlook meaning in Tamil.
How do you use overlook in a sentence?
Swinging sharply westwards, it emerges on to the Undercliff, overlooking the English Channel.
What part of speech is overlook?
Overlook can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce overlook?
Overlook is pronounced /ˈəʊvəˌlʊk/ (UK).
What is the plural of overlook?
The plural of overlook is overlooks.

Words near overlook in the dictionary

  1. overlogical
  2. overlogically
  3. overlong
  4. overlong vowel
  5. overlong vowels
  6. overlook
  7. overlookable
  8. overlooked
  9. overlooker
  10. overlookers
  11. overlooking

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: overlook (page history and authors); overlook (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overlook (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Overlook (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overlook (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); بھلنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); تېروتل (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-overlook2.wav, En-us-overlook.ogg.

Cite this entry: “overlook.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overlook. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.