capacitive
Americanadjective
-
pertaining to electrical capacitance, or the property of being able to collect and hold a charge of electricity.
-
exhibiting or relying on electrical capacitance.
smartphones with capacitive touchscreens that react to electrical impulses generated by your finger.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of capacitive
First recorded in 1915–20; capacit(y) + -ive
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.
Nail polish formulations were coated onto a silicone mat and the resistance of the dried films were measured; formulations with noninfinite resistance were tested on capacitive touchscreens.
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026
Neither did Mazda abandon conventional switches, rotary knobs and paddles even as other companies were converting to capacitive and haptic controls.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
It has a row of capacitive touch buttons that are used for climate controls but can completely change to stereo controls at the press of a specific button.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2022
The steering wheel buttons look like capacitive touch buttons but are thankfully physical switches.
From The Verge • Aug. 8, 2022
The combined effect of resistance R , inductive reactance XL , and capacitive reactance XC is defined to be impedance, an AC analogue to resistance in a DC circuit.
From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015
Definitions 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.
