preview
Americannoun
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previews
plural
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an earlier or previous view.
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an advance showing of a motion picture, play, etc., before its public opening.
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an advance showing of brief scenes in a motion picture, television show, etc., for purposes of advertisement.
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anything that gives an advance idea or impression of something to come.
verb (used with object)
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previews,
present (3rd person singular)
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previewed,
past participle, past
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previewing
present participle
noun
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an advance or preliminary view or sight
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an advance showing before public presentation of a film, art exhibition, etc, usually before an invited audience of celebrities and journalists
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a public performance of a play before the official first night
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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previewsimple
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previewssimple
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have previewedperfect
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has previewedperfect
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am previewingprogressive
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are previewingprogressive
-
is previewingprogressive
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have been previewingperfect progressive
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has been previewingperfect progressive
Past
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previewedsimple
-
had previewedperfect
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was previewingprogressive
-
were previewingprogressive
-
had been previewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of preview
First recorded in 1600–10; 1920–25 preview for def. 2; pre- + view
Explanation
A preview gives you a look at something that hasn't been released yet. You see lots of previews at the movies. If you've been to a movie lately, chances are you saw plenty of previews — little highlights of upcoming movies that are designed to make you want to see them. Any little snippet designed to get you excited about something to come can be called a preview. If you're writing a novel, you could give someone a preview by reading them a few lines. And you're lucky enough to see a show before it opens to the public, you're previewing it.
Vocabulary lists containing preview
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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Power Prefix: Pre-
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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:
The pair both have tickets to Bridgers sold-out run of shows in Dublin's 3Arena in November, but said the early listening event would be a good "preview".
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Investors have seen a preview of this dynamic already over the past couple of weeks.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
From this height and with the southern horizon glowing orange it feels like a preview.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
The saga of Prince George’s County will be a telling preview of that next battlefront.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
Inexperienced writers often think they’re doing the reader a favor by guiding her through the rest of the text with a detailed preview.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Some of their microseries will be shown at movie theaters during previews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The Times previews Andy Burnham's first policy speech next week since Sir Keir Starmer's resignation.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
OpenAI has offered nine major UK banks access to its cyber security AI tool GPT-5.5 Cyber, as its fierce rival Anthropic has blocked them in previews of its version, Claude Mythos.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
The White House insisted in previews of the summit agenda that U.S. policy toward the island wouldn’t change.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
In reality, previews that read like a scrunched-up table of contents are there to help the writer, not the reader.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Much of what is expected at the state trial – the prosecutor's case, Mangione's defence, and obstacles both parties face – were previewed in months of court filings and arguments, but some questions remain unanswered.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Two thoughts: First, we saw this split previewed in Bruen, with the public defenders’ amicus brief.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Trump previewed this topic in a Truth Social a few minutes before taking the stage.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
After Rodrigo previewed her music, “The Cure” music video exhibition was opened up to the fans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Engravings of the Arctic from his upcoming book were previewed in the news media, increasing its soaring advance sales.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Such is the rarefied air they're breathing at this World Cup, what we said in previewing Haiti can be said again in looking forward to Morocco.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Friday’s action comes after reports that a user had bypassed the safety guardrails of Anthropic’s Fable 5, adding to worries about cyberattacks that have built up since the company began previewing Mythos earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Aspen-based architects John Rowland and Sarah Broughton, whose residential projects can have budgets upward of $50 million, use virtual reality when previewing designs to their clients, adding $100,000 or more for the privilege.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Claude Fable 5 is a version of Anthropic's Claude Mythos, an AI program which caused a stir among technology, finance, and government leaders when it was released privately in April for previewing and testing.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
All afternoon she had been preoccupied with previewing Darlene’s dress rehearsal.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
