If you describe treatment or an action as inhuman, you mean that it is extremely cruel.
The detainees are often held in cruel and inhuman conditions.
The barbaric slaughter of whales is unnecessary and inhuman.
Synonyms: cruel, savage, brutal, vicious More Synonyms of inhuman
2. adjective
If you describe someone or something as inhuman, you mean that they are strange or bad because they do not seem human in some way.
...inhuman shrieks that chilled my heart.
inhuman in British English
(ɪnˈhjuːmən)
adjective
1. Also: inhumane (ˌɪnhjuːˈmeɪn)
lacking humane feelings, such as sympathy, understanding, etc; cruel; brutal
2.
not human
Derived forms
inhumanely (ˌinhuˈmanely)
adverb
inhumanly (inˈhumanly)
adverb
inhumanness (inˈhumanness)
noun
inhuman in American English
(ɪnˈhjumən)
adjective
not human; esp., not having the qualities considered normal to or for human beings; unfeeling, heartless, cruel, barbarous, etc.
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈcruel
Derived forms
inhumanly (inˈhumanly)
adverb
Word origin
LME inhumayn < MFr inhumain < L inhumanus
Examples of 'inhuman' in a sentence
inhuman
The applicant alleged that his whole-life sentence amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment as he had no hope of release.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
The questioning of my wife was particularly cruel and inhuman.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Such an act would be cruel and barbaric and inhuman.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The negative obligation not to inflict inhuman or degrading treatment was unqualified.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
To her they seemed inhuman and uncanny.
Frances Hodgson Burnett Emily Fox-Seton (1901)
He told us it was the most inhuman and most cruel ideology in history.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
To her he must have seemed unnatural or inhuman.
Len Deighton Bomber
Sentencing a person to life imprisonment with no prospect of release and no possibility of review amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Not all of the movement attempts to harness fierce, almost inhuman energies.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
We are playing with people's lives in an inhuman way.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
There is something inhuman and Orwellian about technological systems designed to control behaviour.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
There's something about city life that seems inhuman.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
If the risk of inhuman conditions in detention cannot be discounted, then the warrant must be deferred.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The questioning of my wife was particularly cruel and inhuman, resulting in her collapse after leaving the stand.
The Sun (2011)
Police called the conditions inhuman.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The price was paid by prisoners who were locked up for twenty-three hours each day in inhuman conditions without any prospect of constructive activity.
Coyle, Andrew & Stern, Vivien The Prisons We Deserve (1994)
At first I found it hard to credit as it seemed so inhuman.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
And in extreme cases Article 3 prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment of older people.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
A lawyer has told the hearing the standard of care was so poor it could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment under human rights laws.
The Sun (2010)
Almost inhuman but, true to his name, brilliant.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
There is something noble, if also something inhuman, about this view of life.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This is the cruel, inhuman side to modelling that so many claim doesn't exist.
The Sun (2007)
It has been considering whether their transfer would breach Article 3 rights on prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In other languages
inhuman
British English: inhuman ADJECTIVE
If you describe treatment or an action as inhuman, you mean that it is extremely cruel.
The detainees are often held in cruel and inhuman conditions.
American English: inhuman
Brazilian Portuguese: desumano
Chinese: 不人道的
European Spanish: inhumano
French: inhumain
German: unmenschlich
Italian: inumano
Japanese: 冷酷な
Korean: 비인간적인
European Portuguese: desumano
Latin American Spanish: inhumano
(adjective)
Definition
cruel or brutal
The barbaric slaughter of whales is unnecessary and inhuman.
Synonyms
cruel
They should spend a long time in jail to reflect on their cruel acts.
the persecution of prisoners by cruel captors
savage
This was a savage and needless attack.
brutal
He was the victim of a very brutal attack.
vicious
He suffered a vicious attack by a group of gang members.
ruthless
a ruthless totalitarian power
barbaric
a particularly barbaric act of violence
heartless
I couldn't believe they were so heartless.
merciless
the merciless efficiency of a modern police state
diabolical
sins committed in a spirit of diabolical enjoyment
cold-blooded
a cold-blooded killer
remorseless
the capacity for quick, remorseless violence
barbarous
It was a barbarous attack on a purely civilian train.
fiendish
a fiendish act of wickedness
pitiless
He saw the pitiless eyes of his enemy.
unfeeling
an unfeeling bully who used his huge size to frighten people
bestial
the bestial conditions into which the city has sunk
Opposites
humane
,
compassionate
,
merciful
,
feeling
,
sensitive
,
tender
,
charitable
,
warmhearted
Additional synonyms
in the sense of barbaric
Definition
primitive or brutal
a particularly barbaric act of violence
Synonyms
brutal,
fierce,
cruel,
savage,
crude,
vicious,
ruthless,
coarse,
vulgar,
heartless,
inhuman,
merciless,
bloodthirsty,
remorseless,
barbarous,
pitiless,
uncouth
in the sense of barbarous
Definition
brutal or cruel
It was a barbarous attack on a purely civilian train.
Synonyms
brutal,
cruel,
savage,
vicious,
ruthless,
ferocious,
monstrous,
barbaric,
heartless,
inhuman,
merciless,
remorseless,
pitiless
in the sense of bestial
Definition
brutal or savage
the bestial conditions into which the city has sunk