tactile means tangible; perceptible to the sense of touch. It carries an Arena rating of 1737, earned across 15 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tactile ranks #77 of 42,789 for Qualifying, #678 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,625 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,945 of 17,135 for Most Malleable Words.
tactile is pronounced /ˈtæktaɪl/.
Why “tactile” is a great word
Relating to or perceptible by the sense of touch. From Latin tāctilis (“tangible”), from tāctus, past participle of tangere (“to touch”), first attested in English in the early 1600s. Unlike “tangible” (which emphasizes material graspability) or “haptic” (which refers to the science or technology of touch feedback), “tactile” speaks to the raw sensation and quality itself. It is the cool, granular resistance of sandstone beneath your palm, the soft, plush collapse of a velvet cushion, or the sharp, electric prickle of static on wool—a word for the silent, intimate conversation between the world and our skin, where understanding arrives first through the body’s quiet reach.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French tactile, from Latin tactilis (“that may be touched, tangible”), from tangere (“to touch”).
adj
- Tangible; perceptible to the sense of touch.e.g.“tactile method of reading”
- Used for feeling.
- Of or relating to the sense of touch.e.g.“The delicacy of the tactile sense varies on different parts of the skin; it is greatest on the forehead, temples and back of the forearm.” — 1892, William James, Psychology (Briefer Course)
- Prone to touching people or things.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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