haptic

adjective

hap·​tic ˈhap-tik 

1

: relating to or based on the sense of touch

2

: characterized by a predilection for the sense of touch

a haptic person

Did you know?

Haptic felt its way into English in the 19th century as a back-formation of haptics, a noun which was borrowed from the New Latin hapticē (meaning "science of touch," and derived ultimately from the Greek haptesthai, meaning "to touch") in the 1700s. Haptic was originally a medical synonym for tactile. By the 20th century, it had developed a psychological sense, describing individuals whose perception supposedly depended primarily on touch rather than sight. Although almost no one today divides humans into haptic and visual personalities, English retains the broadened psychological sense of haptic as well as the older "tactile" sense.

Examples of haptic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Razer Kishi Ultra's haptic tech probably should have been left out to cut the controller's price, though. —PCMAG, 30 May 2024

Load speeds and haptic feedback continue to be the main selling points on the packaging. —Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 30 May 2024

Microsoft has a tiny battery inside the base to enable this and the new haptic feedback on the trackpad in this Flex Keyboard. —Tom Warren, The Verge, 20 May 2024

Like audio descriptions in TV shows and movies, transcripts in podcasts, and haptic feedback for music, technology like Dot’s Braille display are making WEBTOON’s material accessible to Go and legions of other people like her. —Steven Aquino, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from haptics

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Medical Definition

haptic

adjective

hap·​tic ˈhap-tik 

variants also haptical

-ti-kəl 

1

: relating to or based on the sense of touch

the haptic mode of perception

—Colin Gordon

2

: characterized by a predilection for the sense of touch

a haptic person