humanoid

1 of 2

adjective

hu·​man·​oid ˈhyü-mə-ˌnȯid How to pronounce humanoid (audio)
ˈyü-
: having human form or characteristics
humanoid dentition
humanoid robots

humanoid

2 of 2

noun

plural humanoids
: a humanoid being : a nonhuman creature or being with characteristics (such as the ability to walk upright) resembling those of a human
Why do people respond so strongly to penguins? First, they stand straight and walk upright, like us, so we see them as little humanoids—a convention of headwaiters, ten thousand nuns, plump babies in snowsuits.Diane Ackerman
Those tales of the deep blended narratives of voyages of exploration … with fantastic additions drawn from an ancient repertoire of sea monsters and mutant humanoids.Simon Schama

Did you know?

A humanoid robot, sometimes called an android, is a robot that resembles a human. Accounts of the yeti, Sasquatch, and Bigfoot continue to fascinate us mainly because of their humanoid characteristics. The idea of creating a monstrous humanoid, such as the Jewish golem or Victor Frankenstein's creation, has intrigued us for centuries. "Humanoid Animation" is a standard for creating humanlike figures for video that lets the same figure be used in a variety of 3-D games—some of which have nothing but humanoids for characters.

Examples of humanoid in a Sentence

Adjective The movie is about humanoid aliens invading Earth.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Figure, a startup that’s partnered with OpenAI to develop a humanoid robot, released a new video on Wednesday. Matt Novak / Gizmodo, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 The same methods underpinning LLMs are now being used to help humanoid robots learn to walk better and faster. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024 With further training, this might even mean that the same general model could operate a humanoid robot, says Pieter Abbeel, cofounder and chief scientist of Covariant, who has pioneered robot learning. Will Knight, WIRED, 11 Mar. 2024 Figure, for its part, recently announced a partnership with BMW to bring the humanoid robot to the carmaker’s Spartanburg, South Carolina manufacturing facility. Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024 The collaboration aims to help accelerate Figure's commercial timeline by enhancing the capabilities of humanoid robots to process and reason from language. Charlie Fink, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Why is OpenAI working with a humanoid robotics company? Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024 The work illustrated in this video introduces a novel approach that utilizes mixed reality and assistive autonomy to enhance the efficiency and precision of humanoid robot teleoperation. IEEE Spectrum, 26 Jan. 2024 There, flitting between the trees, is a humanoid creature with a plasma cannon and an invisibility cloak that proves more formidable than any guerilla grunt. EW.com, 13 Nov. 2023
Noun
Most of the companies getting traction in the space have robots that don’t look like the humanoids of science fiction. Richard Kestenbaum, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 The recent progress in commercial humanoids is just exhausting. IEEE Spectrum, 2 Feb. 2024 And Tesla is potentially its own first customer for humanoids, finding work for them in its car factories. IEEE Spectrum, 30 Dec. 2023 Premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Being is a social humanoid that Newsome has been developing for almost five years. Okla Jones, Essence, 23 Jan. 2024 The exhibition centered on the AI humanoid who taught decolonization workshops through dance storytelling and critical pedagogy. Steven Vargas, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024 Several companies seem to be following Boston Dynamics’ lead by developing humanoids—including Tesla. Will Knight, WIRED, 4 Jan. 2024 Named Being the Digital Griot, the humanoid bends their arms in preparation to vogue. Steven Vargas, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024 There’s no question that Agility Robotics and the other companies developing commercial humanoids have impressive technology, a compelling narrative, and an enormous amount of potential. IEEE Spectrum, 30 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'humanoid.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1918, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1870, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of humanoid was in 1870

Dictionary Entries Near humanoid

Cite this Entry

“Humanoid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanoid. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

humanoid

adjective
hu·​man·​oid ˈhyü-mə-ˌnȯid How to pronounce humanoid (audio)
ˈyü-
: having human form or characteristics
humanoid noun

Medical Definition

humanoid

adjective
hu·​man·​oid ˈhyü-mə-ˌnȯid How to pronounce humanoid (audio) ˈyü- How to pronounce humanoid (audio)
: having human form or characteristics
humanoid dentition
humanoid noun

More from Merriam-Webster on humanoid

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