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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
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 20 Jan. 2026
The Sphere Immersive sound, which recently made its debut at Radio City Music Hall, haptic seating and 4D environmental effects that make the Vegas location a cathedral of sight and sound, would also be incorporated.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 19 Jan. 2026
Inside, the venue would have a 16K by 16K interior display, an immersive sound system, haptic seating and 4D effects.
—Jt Moodee Lockman, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026
The first steps are the return of the Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16, which no longer feature the edgier parts of the design, such as the light-up touch button function keys and the invisible haptic glass trackpad.
—Wired, Wired News, 6 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Haptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haptic. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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