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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
Ben Sin, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025
The length and intensity of haptic notification feedback feel different on a Pixel 9 Pro XL post-update, but our Pixel 9 Pro feels the same after installing the Pixel Drop.
—Ryan Whitwam, Ars Technica, 7 Mar. 2025
The iPad Air supports the Apple Pencil Pro, which comes with a few more features, including a squeeze gesture that gives haptic feedback and the ability to locate the pencil using Apple's Find My service.
—PCMAG, 5 Mar. 2025
These join features already revealed in Android 16’s two developer betas including improvements to Android’s photo picker menu, richer haptic controls, and a Health Connect app for sharing medical information.
—Dominic Preston, The Verge, 23 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Haptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haptic. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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