inhumane

adjective

in·​hu·​mane ˌin-(ˌ)hyü-ˈmān 

-(ˌ)yü-

: not humane : inhuman sense 1

the inhumane treatment of prisoners

inhumanely adverb

Synonyms

• affectless
• callous
• case-hardened
• cold-blooded
• compassionless
• desensitized
• hard
• hard-boiled
• hard-hearted
• heartless
• indurate
• inhuman
• insensate
• insensitive
• ironhearted
• merciless
• obdurate
• pachydermatous
• pitiless
• remorseless
• ruthless
• slash-and-burn
• soulless
• stony
• stoney
• stonyhearted
• take-no-prisoners
• thick-skinned
• uncharitable
• unfeeling
• unmerciful
• unsparing
• unsympathetic

Examples of inhumane in a Sentence

inhumane wardens who regularly ignored the crying children in their care

an inhumane dictator who tortured and murdered thousands of his own people

Recent Examples on the Web

The brutal punishments, the inhumane conditions and the systemic neglect of children in state care were gross violations of human rights and dignity. —Ray Watford, Sun Sentinel, 28 Jan. 2025

Her lawyers argued that extradition would violate her rights under European human rights law, calling the prospect of a life sentence without parole inhumane. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 25 Jan. 2025

These were Jews and Russian prisoners of war who were forced by Nazi SS officers to do something unimaginably grotesque and inhumane: exhume the more than 70,000 corpses buried in mass graves in a forest named Ponar outside Vilnius, Lithuania. —Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2025

And until armed gangs, weeks later, raided their prison, they were kept in decrepit, inhumane conditions since their arrest two years earlier. —Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 22 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle French inhumain & Latin inhumanus

First Known Use

1536, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

inhumane

adjective

in·​hu·​mane ˌin-(ˌ)hyü-ˈmān 

-(ˌ)yü-

: not humane : inhuman sense 1

inhumane treatment of prisoners

inhumanely adverb