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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
Quentyn Kennemer, The Verge, 12 Apr. 2024
Rumors have suggested that the new phones may have larger screens (and bigger chassis overall) and perhaps haptic buttons instead of the current physical buttons.
—Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 8 Dec. 2023
Due to an infrasound haptic system built into the seats, vibrations can be felt when elephants walk, rockets launch or stormy weather lights up the screen.
—Mark Gray, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2023
The new Surface Slim Pen 2 has haptic feedback—always a plus.
—PCMAG, 22 Mar. 2024
What is Guided Frame on Google Pixel? Guided Frame uses AI and facial recognition to generate audio cues along with high-contrast animations and haptic feedback to assist those who are blind or have low-vision with taking photos.
—USA TODAY, 8 Feb. 2024
There’s also a major lack of haptic feedback, whether in the headset, in controllers or via a watch or other wearable.
—Anshel Sag, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
As for haptic feedback, using the same piezoelectric transducers that generate sound to generate haptic feedback eliminates the need for separate driver electronics and a motor to shake the display.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Feb. 2024
At its core, the Charge 6 is a lot like the last-gen Charge 5, save for a new haptic button on the side and a handful of software updates.
—Brandon Widder, The Verge, 14 Nov. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'haptic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near haptic
Cite this Entry
“Haptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haptic. Accessed 6 May. 2024.
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