android
noun
an automaton in the form of a human being.
android
American
[an-droid]
/ ˈæn drɔɪd /
noun
-
androids
plural
Android
1
British
/ ˈændrɔɪd /
noun
-
a software package for smartphones, including many application programs
-
a smartphone that uses this software
android
2
British
/ ˈændrɔɪd /
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of android
From the New Latin word androīdēs, dating back to 1720–30. See andr-, -oid
Compare meaning
How does android compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An android is a robot that looks and acts like a human being. Sometimes they have fake skin that looks so real you can’t tell the difference. For all you know, the person sitting next to you is an android. Life’s biggest question: What’s the difference between cyborgs and androids? Cyborgs are humans with robot parts added to them, and androids start as robots and then get designed to look like humans. The Latin root androides literally means “resembling a man,” and androids really know how to blend in. Androids mostly appear in science fiction novels and films, but who knows, maybe you’re friends with an android and you don’t even know it. Yet.
Vocabulary lists containing android
Science Fiction Lingo
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A Very Large Expanse of Sea
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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It was really awful, being dressed down by the captain," said Brent Spiner, who played Data, the android.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Now with HBO’s “Lanterns,” she adds an all-powerful galactic android to her acting resume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Another element of the plot, which grows in prominence as the film proceeds, concerns the banding together of the handful of android children in the neighborhood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Each human model and their shorter android companion took turns to strut their stuff in unison on stage.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
In .45 of a second an android equipped with such a brain structure could assume any one of fourteen basic reaction-postures.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Sales in China jumped 29% on year, helped by better product availability and higher-priced Android rivals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
For younger motorists, the first move when getting behind the wheel is to override the in-car infotainment system, including the radio, by activating Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
Android competitors offer larger inner display areas, but Apple focuses heavily on the quality of the hinge and concealing the crease where the phone folds rather than sheer screen real estate, analysts say.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
The European Commission—the EU’s executive arm—in July issued binding instructions for Google to ensure that rival AI services could access features on Android devices to compete on an equal footing with Gemini.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
“The Android Look was not a good one for me.”
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Do androids dream of electric balls and strikes—plus some other questions on baseball’s Opening Day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
You know the species because androids have been a mainstay of science fiction since before Isaac Asimov coined the “three laws of robotics” for a novelette published in 1942.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2025
The filmmaker, whose film stars Will Smith as a detective sceptical of seemingly obedient androids, accused Musk of copying his work in a post on X.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2024
Andy joins the longer history of a franchise wherein the androids are often at odds with Isaac Asimov’s classic Three Laws of Robotics.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2024
Josie’s dad had told her once that it was usually cheaper for companies to hire humans and not pay them very much than to buy androids.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
