tactile
Americanadjective
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of, pertaining to, endowed with, or affecting the sense of touch.
-
perceptible to the touch; tangible.
adjective
-
of, relating to, affecting, or having a sense of touch
a tactile organ
tactile stimuli
-
rare capable of being touched; tangible
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tactile
1605–15; < Latin tāctilis tangible, equivalent to tāct ( us ) (past participle of tangere to touch) + -ilis -ile
Explanation
Tactile has to do with the sense of touch. There's a huge tactile difference between smooth glass and rough sandpaper. Anything to do with touch can be described as tactile. Ever notice how a dog would rather sleep on a soft blanket than a rubbery leather couch? That's because dogs have tactile preferences: the softer the better. Different textures of food are tactile — they feel different in your mouth, aside from how they taste. You deal with the world of tactile things every day — you use your tactile sense whenever you touch anything.
Vocabulary lists containing tactile
Fahrenheit 451
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Common Senses: Tact, Tang ("Touch")
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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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.
Zwick: A lot of tactile industries are hard to disrupt with AI because they involve human interaction and working with your hands.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
But now, parents like me can receive tactile 3D models created from their scans, allowing them to have a special moment with their unborn baby.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Even among households worth $100 million or more, one third own businesses in tactile industries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
In addition, its large upper beak appears to have been well suited for collecting tactile information from the surrounding environment.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
But once you’ve gone this far, I must point out, with primary, secondary, auditory, olfactory, and labial hallucinations, as well as tactile and optical fantasies, it is pretty bad business.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
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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.
