android
Americannoun
noun
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a software package for smartphones, including many application programs
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a smartphone that uses this software
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of android
From the New Latin word androīdēs, dating back to 1720–30. See andr-, -oid
Compare meaning
How does android compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An android is a robot that looks and acts like a human being. Sometimes they have fake skin that looks so real you can’t tell the difference. For all you know, the person sitting next to you is an android. Life’s biggest question: What’s the difference between cyborgs and androids? Cyborgs are humans with robot parts added to them, and androids start as robots and then get designed to look like humans. The Latin root androides literally means “resembling a man,” and androids really know how to blend in. Androids mostly appear in science fiction novels and films, but who knows, maybe you’re friends with an android and you don’t even know it. Yet.
Vocabulary lists containing android
Science Fiction Lingo
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A Very Large Expanse of Sea
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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
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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.
See Examples For:
Sony is halting sales of its robotic puppy "aibo" in Japan, the company said, eight years after the latest model of its interactive android pet became an instant hit.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
One of the festival’s big themes seems to be connection: that we’re all stuck on this rock together and, ultimately, the difference between human and android, man and woman, is moot.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
Instead of husband President Donald Trump at her side, it was the "Figure 3" android that accompanied Melania down the famous red carpet.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
The android knows how to navigate the planet’s threats—exploding spike plants, acid-spitting eels, literal razor grass—so Dek reluctantly teams up with her to find his quarry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
Kikaider was a late-’70s Japanese action show about a red-and-blue android who beat the crap out of rubber-suited monsters in each episode.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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The feature allowed users to choose their default search engine during the initial set-up of a new Android device.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
It alleged Google pressured phone makers using Android to pre-install its search engine and Google Chrome browser -- essentially shutting out rivals.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
Friday’s lawsuit has echoes of the ones Apple filed against various Android ecosystem players beginning in 2010, a legal battle royal with hardware makers producing rival phones that played out over eight years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
A Google spokesperson said the judgement "fails to recognise" the firm's "significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free".
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
“The Android Look was not a good one for me.”
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
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Do androids dream of electric balls and strikes—plus some other questions on baseball’s Opening Day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
You know the species because androids have been a mainstay of science fiction since before Isaac Asimov coined the “three laws of robotics” for a novelette published in 1942.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2025
The filmmaker, whose film stars Will Smith as a detective sceptical of seemingly obedient androids, accused Musk of copying his work in a post on X.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2024
Since Ellen Ripley survived her first xenomorph encounter way back in 1979, Scott has used this to critique our reliance on technology and our assumed dominance over it through his androids.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2024
Max guessed Dad thought he could figure out androids, too.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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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.