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Glite Dictionary
📶 No physical touch 💳 A tap card
contactless

contactless

1 3.4
Not needing physical touch to work for payments or entry
  • adjective
  • /ˈkɒntæktləs/
translation icon : sin contacto
  • Many stores now accept contactless payments to make transactions quicker and safer.
  • contactless payment
  • contactless terminal

Examples

  • Our review model arrived with a contactless charging pad to test it out with, and it works exactly how it should. Resting the majority of the phone on top of the pad will start it charging immediately, if slowly.

    Blog text (21)

  • Both Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide have certified the ST chip to run their contactless applications, Broadcom told NFC Times.

    Blog text (30)

  • The app leverages Near Field Communication technology, a way of contactless payment being implemented in smartphones today.

    Blog text (33)

  • The back of the device also plays host to an array of pogo pins, although there are very few accessories capable of utilizing these, and an NFC chip is built in for contactless payments and Android Beam support.

    Blog text (19)

  • But the six-month French trial that has just started is taking the efficiency goal one step further by marrying a contactless smartcard, which holds the biometric data, with the POS-affixed biometric scanner.

    Blog text (32)

  • With a contactless credit card, you can pay simply by tapping it on the terminal.

  • The bus station has switched to a contactless access system for entering the platform.

Synonyms

touchless
vscontactless
  • Specialized
1 4.2

A machine or system that works without physical contact

is used mainly for payments, access, and device operation
noncontact
vscontactless
4.2

Not involving physical touch between people or objects

is used mainly for payments, access, and other device functions

Antonyms

contact
371 1.0

Physical touching between people or things

How Physical

contact
371 1.0
contactless
1 3.4

Surface Forms

contactless positive

Morphology

contactless = contact (transparent) = contact + less

The adjective is formed by adding the productive negating suffix '-less' to the noun 'contact', yielding 'without contact', which matches the sense.

Etymology

Contactless joins contact ('touch') and -less ('without'). So something contactless is used 'without touch', like a payment or key card that works when you tap or hold it near a machine.