inhumane
Americanadjective
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Etymology
Origin of inhumane
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Explanation
The adjective inhumane means cruel and heartless. Use it to describe terrible things like your neighbor's inhumane treatment of his hound dogs, which he leaves tied up in the yard in all kinds of weather. Whenever someone acts without considering the discomfort or pain of another person or animal, you can describe their actions as inhumane. A cruel government that keeps prisoners in terrible conditions is inhumane, and the treatment of farm animals is in some cases revealed to be inhumane by investigators. The word inhumane was originally a synonym of inhuman, literally "not human," but it fell out of use and then was revived in the 1820s to mean the opposite of humane.
Vocabulary lists containing inhumane
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Surviving Hitler
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Protests erupted last month outside an immigrant detention facility in New Jersey after detainees launched a hunger and labor strike over what they called inhumane conditions such as rotten food and medical neglect.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026
“I’m deeply disturbed by reports of the poor conditions at Delaney Hall. Unsafe, inhumane and unconstitutional living conditions are completely unacceptable.”
From Salon • May 30, 2026
For months, lawmakers inspecting the facility have corroborated reports of inhumane conditions and called for immediate intervention.
From Slate • May 29, 2026
"I am outraged by this inhumane and disgraceful conduct, a profiteering stunt that denies the values of the South Korean community," Lee wrote on X last week.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
In the late nineteenth century, alarmed by the inhumane treatment of incarcerated people suffering from mental illness, Dorothea Dix and Reverend Louis Dwight led a successful campaign to get the mentally ill out of prison.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
