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.
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
Through capacitive coupling, that charge may generate intense electric fields inside microscopic voids within fractured rock.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 24, 2026
Look into just about any new car and you’ll find a touchscreen and maybe even a bank of capacitive touch buttons that seek to approximate the function of mechanical buttons.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2022
Buttons are a touchy subject among smartwatch owners, but new leaked Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4 photos from 9to5Google indicate the company is ditching capacitive buttons for both of its next-gen smartwatches.
From The Verge ● Jul. 22, 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.
