user interface

noun

plural user interfaces

: software that is designed to allow a computer user to interact with the operating system of a machine or system (such as by selecting presented options or entering text commands)

Likewise, the user interface is remarkably unintuitive, requiring a whirlwind of relentless mouse clicking to move, talk, touch, look, or manipulate onscreen objects.

—Scott A. May

… a new user interface he vows will change the way people use computers.

—InfoWorld

especially : graphical user interface

—abbreviation UI

Examples of user interface in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Traditionally, a tool's capabilities are limited by what its primary user interface (UI) and data model can do, along with the user’s own knowledge. —Abakar Saidov, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025

Via the user interface near the steering wheel, the captain can choose to make the waves short or tall, or anything in between (on a scale of 0-7) to either side of the boat. —New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2025

That could cement their dominance, helping LLMs become the user interface for almost everything. —Diane Brady, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2025

As always, the ranking is packaged in our sortable user interface and broken down into tiers. —Scott Wheeler, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for user interface

• asparaginase
• dehydrogenase
• lipoxygenase
• abase
• airspace
• apace
• backspace
• biface
• birthplace
• blackface
• boldface
• bookcase

Kids Definition

user interface

noun

: software that is designed to allow a computer user to interact with the operating system of a machine or system

especially : graphical user interface