Google quietly expanding AI Overviews in place of its classic dictionary box

Last November, early reports suggested Google was testing a Search change that replaced the classic dictionary box with AI Overviews for some users. At the time, it looked like another limited A/B test. But several months later, the same change now appears to be showing up for more people, raising fresh concerns that Google may be moving closer to replacing one of Search’s most useful built-in tools.

As previously reported by our sister site TechIssuesToday, some users began seeing AI-generated summaries in place of the traditional dictionary card when searching for word definitions. Google did not officially announce the change then, and it still hasn’t publicly confirmed whether this is a test, a wider rollout, or a permanent replacement.

That silence is part of what makes the situation frustrating. Over the past few weeks, more complaints have appeared across Google’s own forums and Reddit, with users saying the old dictionary box has disappeared from their results. One trending Google Search Community thread asks about the disappearance of Google Dictionary, while another user is asking how to access the original Google Dictionary. On Reddit, users have also been sharing similar experiences, claiming that AI Overview has taken over the built-in dictionary feature or that Google has removed the dictionary box again.

I can also confirm that the same change is now active on two of my Google accounts. Instead of the familiar dictionary card, Google now shows an AI Overview when looking up word definitions.

For many users, this is not just a cosmetic change. The old Google dictionary box was simple, fast, and genuinely useful. It offered definitions, pronunciation, word origin, translations, example usage, synonyms, antonyms, and even a usage graph showing how common a word was over time. It was one of those rare Search features that did exactly what people expected without trying to be clever. Naturally, that made it a prime candidate for disruption by AI.

I, for one, don’t like the replacement AI Overview. It no longer gives proper structured definitions, tenses, similar words, or opposites. The previous definition card was super convenient, but the AI version feels less precise, less trustworthy, and more verbose than the old card.

There are also signs that the experience is still inconsistent. Some users say “define: word” still brings up the classic dictionary box in certain cases, while others say even that workaround now returns an AI Overview. A few report that desktop mode, incognito, or changing browsers can still surface the old card, but these workarounds do not appear reliable. That supports the idea that Google may still be testing the change across accounts, regions, devices, or query formats.

Still, the expanding availability makes the situation feel different from a small experiment. Google has spent the past two years pushing AI deeper into Search, from AI Overviews to AI Mode, and the company officially describes AI Overviews as a way to provide AI-generated snapshots with links for further exploration.

That broader AI push makes this dictionary change feel less random. If Google is increasingly positioning Search as an AI-first product, replacing a static, structured dictionary card with an AI-generated answer fits the larger direction, even if some of us see it as a downgrade.

For now, Google has not said whether the classic dictionary box is being retired. But the growing number of reports, combined with first-hand confirmation across multiple accounts, suggests this is no longer a tiny test affecting just a few unlucky users.

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