programmatic

[ proh-gruh-mat-ik ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

of, relating to, consisting of, or resembling program music.
of, having, advocating, resembling, or following a plan, policy, or program:
programmatic art.
of, relating to, or employing a computer program:
The coders found a programmatic solution to automate data processing.

programmatic

/ ˌprəʊɡrəˈmætɪk /

adjective

of or relating to programme music
of or relating to a programme

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Other Words From

program·mati·cal·ly adverb
nonpro·gram·matic adjective
unpro·gram·matic adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of programmatic¹

1895–1900; < Greek programmat- (stem of prógramma ) program + -ic

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Example Sentences

At the moment, many clients are accessing the inventory via private marketplace or programmatic guaranteed deals.

From Digiday

Fraudsters seem to be taking advantage of the CTV ad market still being in development, particularly when it comes to the market’s programmatic infrastructure.

From Digiday

Armed with richer first-party data sets, publishers looking to extend their reach using programmatic media channels are proving better match rates when onboarding their data in a post-third-party cookie world.

From Digiday

Even earlier in March, Digiday reported that programmatic rates were down an average of 10 to 20% globally.

From Digiday

It worked as there was a 52% jump in awareness among those who saw the programmatic ads compared to those who did not.

From Digiday

The majority of the rest of the book is devoted to the programmatic agenda of the members of the Federalist Society.

From The Daily Beast

State of the Union addresses tend to be too long and too programmatic.

From The Daily Beast

Every president seems to get bogged down in policy overload and programmatic detail.

From The Daily Beast

The "Pastoral" symphony is by no means the first piece of deliberately, confessedly programmatic music.

From Project Gutenberg

Although he strove continually for classic form, his works nevertheless reveal their programmatic origin.

From Project Gutenberg

These men often talk as glibly as if they were essayists, they often seem to be mere vehicles for programmatic manifestoes.

From Project Gutenberg

Musical modernity and the programmatic form had come to seem inseparable.

From Project Gutenberg

Like “Zarathustra,” it would be effective as music without a line of programmatic explanation.

From Project Gutenberg

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More About Programmatic

What does programmatic mean?

Programmatic is most commonly used to describe things done using a computer program.

In computing, a program is a sequence of instructions (called code) that enable a computer to perform a task. Programmatic is used to refer to tasks that can be done in an automated way (using such programs), especially as opposed to tasks that have to be done manually (by a person).

Program is a common word that has many other meanings, and programmatic can also refer to anything involving or using a plan.

More specifically but less commonly, it can be used to describe something involving program music, which is music intended to convey an impression of a definite series of images, scenes, or events.

Example: Instead of reading every cell in the spreadsheet to look for duplicates, you can filter them out programmatically.

Where does programmatic come from?

The word programmatic is first recorded in English around the early 1900s, but it didn’t come to be used in its modern sense until much later (obviously), after the advent of computers. But today, it’s most commonly used to refer to tasks completed with software.

Performing tasks in a programmatic way is really the whole point of computers. Instead of having to solve long, complex equations, computers were invented to crunch the numbers programmatically: instructions (the code) are programmed into the computer, specific data is put in, and then, bleep bloop, the computer does the work.

You’re most likely to hear the word being used to discuss how something can be automated, or at least simplified, so that humans don’t have to do as much work. But the scale and potential applications of things that can be done programmatically are limitless.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms of programmatic?

programmatically (adverb)
nonprogrammatic (adjective)
unprogrammatic (adjective)
programmatical (adjective)

What are some synonyms for programmatic?

What are some words that share a root or word element with programmatic?

What are some words that often get used in discussing programmatic?

How is programmatic used in real life?

Programmatic is primarily used to talk about having software do the work so we don’t have to.

How Mondelēz MENA adopted DoubleClick's #programmatic solution to build brand awareness: https://t.co/E5G8e3kONv pic.twitter.com/VOxsZia7CA

— Think with Google MENA (@thinkgooglemena) July 31, 2017

Expect? No, but I think it benefits everyone to look into tooling that makes their life easier.

And as a software engineer, I've found it's much easier to find a programmatic solution rather than try to train the correct behavior in people 🤷‍♂️

— Comrade 🧐 (@ComradeNexus) September 24, 2019

I don't know what the best/right answer is, but a mix of custom types that expose more detailed info in a programmatic way seems like a good place to start.

— yortw (@yortw) May 14, 2019

Try using programmatic!

Which of the following words is an antonym (opposite) of programmatic?

A. algorithmic
B. automated
C. manual
D. methodical

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