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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
New Atlas, 29 Apr. 2025
And make sure those alarms have sound and haptic feedback turned on.
—Louryn Strampe, Wired News, 18 Apr. 2025
As detailed in the original story on the Pixel Watch 3’s loss of pulse functionality, attempts are made to alert the wearer, using sound and haptic feedback, before a call is finally made to emergency services.
—Andrew Williams, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025
When a scam is detected, the phone will issue audio and haptic notifications alongside an on-screen warning.
—Joe Edwards, Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for haptic
Cite this Entry
“Haptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haptic. Accessed 17 May. 2025.
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