humanoid
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
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a being with human rather than anthropoid characteristics
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(in science fiction) a robot or creature resembling a human being
Etymology
Origin of humanoid
Explanation
Something that's humanoid looks or acts like a real, live human being — but it's not. A humanoid robot is one that's designed to resemble a person. Anthropologists coined the word humanoid in the 19th century, adding the suffix -oid, or "like," to human. Scientists once used it to talk about humanlike traits in non-human organisms, but today it nearly always describes an automaton or robot. In the Star Wars universe, droids like C-3PO are humanoid, while R2-D2, who doesn’t have arms and legs or a recognizable face, is not.
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.
Despite a pause in most tariffs following talks in May 2025, Washington and Beijing have continued to exchange sanctions, including restrictions on humanoid robots shipped to the US and tighter Chinese curbs on drone exports.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Schaeffler has also held discussions with more than 45 global manufacturers of humanoid robots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Federal Communications Commission banned new foreign-made humanoid and quadruped robots.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
The striking features of the site’s humanoid figures have prompted a wholesale rethinking of what historians thought they knew about the origins of Chinese civilization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Even my demigod eyes couldn’t make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could’ve used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
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.
