humane

[ hyoo-meynor, often, yoo- ]

adjective

1. characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressed:

   humane treatment of prisoners.

   Synonyms: charitable, benignant, benevolent, sympathetic, gentle, compassionate, tender, kindhearted, kindly, kind, merciful

   Antonyms: brutal, inhumane

2. acting in a manner that causes the least harm to people or animals:

   humane trapping of stray pets.

3. of or relating to humanistic studies.

humane

/ hjuːˈmeɪn /

adjective

1. characterized by kindness, mercy, sympathy, etc
2. inflicting as little pain as possible

   a humane killing

3. civilizing or liberal (esp in the phrases humane studies, humane education )

Derived Forms

• huˈmaneness, noun
• huˈmanely, adverb

Other Words From

• hu·manely adverb
• hu·maneness noun
• unhu·mane adjective
• unhu·manely adverb
• unhu·maneness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of humane¹

First recorded in 1425–75; originally a variant of human, restricted to above senses from the 18th century; germane, german

Word History and Origins

Origin of humane¹

C16: variant of human

Synonym Study

See human.

Example Sentences

She also has taken a new approach to some nonviolent offenses that she said would not only be more humane, but would free resources for fighting violent crimes.

From ProPublica

Pandemic prevention aside, the use of this kind of vaccine could also provide more humane control of rabies, because culling bats is currently the go-to method of keeping the disease at bay in South America.

From Quanta Magazine

Despite all these efforts, questions remain as to whether biotech can ever dramatically reduce the industry’s emissions or afford humane treatment to captive animals in resource-intensive operations.

From Singularity Hub 

“I want to see people unify, regardless of differences, to win a humane balance for these otherwise voiceless souls,” said Maitely Weismann, who formed the group.

From Voice of San Diego

This solution is fair, it’s humane and most important, it will provide all schools with the funds they need to open safely in the fall.

From Voice of San Diego

The change is an unalloyed good: It makes us more humane and our relationships more real.

From The Daily Beast

That is why I believe that you feel the value of this ethical and humane togetherness.

From The Daily Beast

“We have to be humane and we care about our patients but we are also not a prison,” the anonymous doctor said.

From The Daily Beast

And into the fray comes a weapon I never thought would have been legal, let alone humane—something called Knee Defender.

From The Daily Beast

It is framed, rightly so, as a painful act done in the service of being as humane and respectful as possible.

From The Daily Beast

But the rebels, presumably interpreting his humane suggestion as a sign of weakness, continued to fire on the Spanish troops.

From Project Gutenberg

There were semi-savage native chiefs, and there were others, like Aguinaldo himself, with humane instincts.

From Project Gutenberg

But this is not a humane and civilised nation, and never will be while it accepts Christianity as its religion.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a good and humane action to prevent bloodshed, but the world is not always worthy of good actions.

From Project Gutenberg

But would it not be more humane and more charitable to foresee the misery and to prevent the poor from increasing?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• approachable
• benevolent
• considerate
• cordial
• democratic
• forgiving
• friendly
• generous
• gentle
• gracious
• humanitarian
• merciful
• open-minded
• sympathetic
• tolerant
• unselfish