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Synonyms

overview

American  
[oh-ver-vyoo] / ˈoʊ vərˌvju /

noun

  • overviews
    plural
  1. a general outline of a subject or situation; survey or summary.


overview British  
/ ˈəʊvəˌvjuː /

noun

  1. a general survey

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of overview

First recorded in 1540–50; over- + view


Explanation

An overview is a general summary of something. An overview gives the big picture, while leaving out the minor details. If you take a class on American history, the class will be an overview: it will sum up the most important events that have happened, such as famous elections, national disasters, major wars, and economic trends. When writing an overview, you have to leave out a lot of details, because you're focusing on major points. You can give an overview of a company's business, of a sport team's season, or even of your own life.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing overview

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

JPMorgan highlighted the trend in their weekly retail activity trading overview published late on Wednesday.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Polymarket US’s chief compliance officer, Andrew Clifford, resigned in April after sending a lengthy report with an overview of some of the fraud issues to company executives, according to people familiar with the report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

"Only studies like ours offer an overview of these traditions which bear witness to genuine know-how and diverse traditions."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

I’m a historian of social policy who led the first comprehensive historical overview of Medi-Cal, California’s statewide Medicaid system.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

I first gave a general overview of my travels, itemizing the money we had received and the offers of training.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Advertising spending is resilient, and the AI overviews Google has added to its search engine are boosting traffic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

According to TikTok, users were able to report and provide feedback about AI overviews.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

What’s more, marketing professionals are already studying how LLMs rank sources to ensure that their content is picked up in A.I. overviews.

From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2026

Google’s AI advancements, including AI overviews, have helped maintain its nearly 90% search market share.

From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026

Interactive access is frequently used to do queries of NIC service overviews, look up user and host names, and scan lists of NIC documents.

From Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet by Ed Krol

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