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• android
  android

  noun

  an automaton in the form of a human being.
• Android
  Android

  noun

  a software package for smartphones, including many application programs

android

American  

[an-droid] / ˈæn drɔɪd /

noun

androids plural

1. an automaton in the form of a human being.

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Android ¹ British  

/ ˈændrɔɪd /

noun

1. a software package for smartphones, including many application programs

2. a smartphone that uses this software

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android ² British  

/ ˈændrɔɪd /

noun

1. (in science fiction) a robot resembling a human being

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adjective

1. resembling a human being

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• androids
  plural

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:

• cyborg vs. android

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

android Android androids

Hirokazu Kore-eda directs this muddled film about grieving parents who adopt an android copy of their dead son.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Instead of husband President Donald Trump at her side, it was the "Figure 3" android that accompanied Melania down the famous red carpet.

From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026

The android knows how to navigate the planet’s threats—exploding spike plants, acid-spitting eels, literal razor grass—so Dek reluctantly teams up with her to find his quarry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025

She’s spent her whole life being cared for by android robots while her parents are away, and stockpiling perishable resources and doomsday goods for when wildfires become too widespread to ignore.

From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2025

Or—she understood how it would be if Josie truly were just an android.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

“They have the Android and the iPhone, and that’s kind of how you’re going to use AI for now,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The feature allowed users to choose their default search engine during the initial set-up of a new Android device.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

It has been downloaded more than a billion times across iOS and Android devices, with millions still logging on each day.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

“I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product,” Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 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

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

Decades after Philip K. Dick asked if androids dreamed of electric sheep, we have an answer.

From New York Times ● May 30, 2024

“You have to be a long way off, the way the androids are. They have better perspective.”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick