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

This was not an isolated incident: since its troubled 2019 launch, AP Classroom has been plagued by glitches, confusing user interfaces, and reliability issues. —Scott White, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025

The service introduced a new user interface (UI) update within the last six months, but has not updated its homepage since 2013, making an update long overdue. —Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 May 2025

The user interface update includes a new personalized row of highlights. —Dade Hayes, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2025

Photograph: Getty Images But the terrible user interface hasn’t been enough for Instagram chief Adam Mosseri to green-light a version designed for the iPad. —Julian Chokkattu, Wired News, 12 Apr. 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