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
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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.
It’s unfortunate that we’re going toward a society where we won’t have that tactile feeling anymore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The new owners concluded that they didn’t need to reinvent the experience, replete with the nostalgia and tactile simplicity that made the viewers iconic in the first place.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
She quickly discovered that available pelvic models have hard plastic shells around the cervix where providers practice injecting; this prevents trainees from getting the necessary tactile feedback to learn where to inject.
From Slate ● Jun. 7, 2026
Koch is taking handwritten notes from people close to her for her personal item, which she has described as a "tactile connection" to loved ones back on Earth.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
They dealt only with experimental data and were filled with graphs, charts, tables, photographs of devices for the measuring of auditory, visual, and tactile responses, and with mathematical translations of laboratory findings.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
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.
