Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for overview. Search instead for over view.
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:

Ars Technica reported last year that cursing would disable Google’s AI overview.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 28, 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

Nall, from I Need an A, said one of the biggest pieces of misinformation that they see come from AI is a lack of a comprehensive overview of a person’s options.

From Salon Aug. 19, 2026

He provided an overview of the direction his government would take but did not provide a detailed plan and, unusually for a political speech, did not take questions at the end.

From BBC Jun. 29, 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

However, many have said they've seen a drop in traffic since Google moved links to other sites down the search results page, with AI overviews displayed at the top instead.

From BBC Jun. 3, 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

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training