Definition of HUMANOID

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A humanoid robot, sometimes called an android, is a robot that resembles a human. Accounts of the yeti, Sasquatch, and Bigfoot continue to fascinate us mainly because of their humanoid characteristics. The idea of creating a monstrous humanoid, such as the Jewish golem or Victor Frankenstein's creation, has intrigued us for centuries. "Humanoid Animation" is a standard for creating humanlike figures for video that lets the same figure be used in a variety of 3-D games—some of which have nothing but humanoids for characters.

Examples of humanoid in a Sentence

The movie is about humanoid aliens invading Earth.

Recent Examples on the Web

D’Arcy Carden, who plays Janet, a humanoid entity with limitless knowledge, on NBC’s The Good Place discusses the challenges and comic possibilities that exist in the uncanny valley. — Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, "13 of Vox’s best podcast episodes of 2018," 6 Dec. 2018 Sign-up Getting to Ms. Huey’s home requires driving due north from downtown Scottsdale for about 30 minutes, through a rugged desert where tall, humanoid Saguaro cactuses outnumber the people. — Candace Taylor, WSJ, "A Desert Home Design Inspired by Paperweights," 8 Nov. 2018 Atlas has come a long way since the company first debuted its ability to march through the woods like the humanoid answer to Big Foot. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Boston Dynamics' Atlas Can Now Chase You Up the Stairs," 11 Oct. 2018 Two of the final sketches were humanoid ones; these, for me, were the least involving. — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, "Review: Mummenschanz Offers Wonder, and a Grumpy Trash Bag," 10 July 2018 While this is Terminator-level stuff, the robot will not look humanoid. — Allison Barrie, Fox News, "Tank-killing robot revealed," 22 June 2018 For Skuler, convincing a user that an AI or humanoid robot is human is a dangerous game. — Matt Simon, WIRED, "We Need to Talk About Robots Trying to Pass as Humans," 7 June 2018 The company’s biggest hit so far shows a humanoid robot named Atlas, a kind of 21st Century Tin Man, traipsing across a snowy landscape, picking up cardboard boxes, and being knocked down by a human — but determinedly getting back up again. — Scott Kirsner, BostonGlobe.com, "After viral YouTube fame, Boston Dynamics is ready to sell its robots," 6 July 2018 Ideally those norms won’t include treating humanoid robots like crap, à la Westworld. — Matt Simon, WIRED, "We Need to Talk About Robots Trying to Pass as Humans," 7 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'humanoid.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.