supe
US/sup/
supe is the clipping of supernumerary.
supe is the abbreviation of superintendent.
supe is the abbreviation of supervisor.
supe is the clipping of supervision.
supe is the clipping of superhero.
Meaning of supernumerary
Noun
supernumerary (plural supernumeraries)
- A person who works in a group, association, or public office without forming part of the regular staff (the numerary).
- The judge was a supernumerary, helping the regular judges whenever there was a surplus amount of work.
- An extra or walk-on, often non-speaking, in a film or play; a spear carrier.
- [A] minor actor or supernumerary often has a better opportunity to watch great actors than the great actors themselves.1983, H[endrik] B[rugt] G[erhard] Casimir, “Introduction”, in Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science (A Sloan Foundation Book), New York, N.Y.: Harper and Row, →ISBN; republished Amsterdam...
- Something which is beyond the prescribed or standard amount or number.
- On each side the glass hung one of the large engravings; another over the secretary, facing the window, and the fourth, which for some time seemed a supernumerary, over the door.1850, Mary Howitt, “Little Coin, Much Care: Or, How Poor Men Live”, in Popular Moral Tales for the Young, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Co., […], →OCLC, chapter I (How Mr. Bartram Let Two of His...
- An animal which has not formed a pair bond and is therefore single.
- The best evidence so far that social supernumeraries are physically capable of bettering their lot concerns not rodents but birds.1996–2005, W[illiam] D[onald] Hamilton, “Sorority Avenue: Altruism and Related Phenomena, Mainly in Social Insects”, in Narrow Roads of Gene Land: The Collected Papers of W. D. Hamilton, volume 1...
- A married man or woman who is a secular member of Opus Dei, a Roman Catholic religious institution.
- “Supernumeraries”, the bulk of Opus Dei members, can marry and live in their own homes, with slightly fewer spiritual obligations.2024 March 16, Antonia Cundy, “The Opus Dei diaries”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 17
Meaning of superintendent
Noun
superintendent (plural superintendents)
- A person who is authorized to supervise, direct or administer something.
- A police officer rank, positioned above chief inspector, and below chief superintendent.
- “No, don't,” replied the superintendent; “in fact, I'd rather you made yourself conspicuous elsewhere. Go down to the landing stage and cross to New Brighton or Wallasey—doesn't matter which—and come back. No doubt you will be seen, and reported to have gone across.”1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!
- The manager of a building, usually a communal residence, who is responsible for keeping the facilities functional and often collecting rent or similar payments, either as also the building's landlord or on behalf of same.
- Synonyms:
- super
- The head of a Sunday school.
- In some Protestant churches, a clergyman having the oversight of the clergy of a district.
- A janitor.
Synonyms of supe
Forms of supe
| plural | supes |
|---|---|
| alternative form | sup |
| alternative form | super |
Origin of supe
Clipping of super.
Questions about supe
- What is supe the clipping of?
- Supe is the clipping of supernumerary.
- How do you pronounce supe?
- Supe is pronounced /sup/ (US).
Words near supe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: supe (page history and authors); supernumerary (page history and authors); superintendent (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “supe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/supe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.