humanness
Americannoun
-
the quality or condition of being human or characteristic of humans.
Loss of intellect, as when a person is severely brain-damaged, does not mean loss of humanness.
It’s an essay on the humanness of language—how it serves as a hallmark distinguishing humankind from other animals.
-
human limitation, weakness, or imperfection.
Employers need to embrace the humanness of their workforce, with all its flaws, frailty, and emotional vulnerability.
In a fitness class, the sheer humanness of feeling awkward and sweating together relaxes relationships.
-
sympathetic, relatable, or humane quality.
The memoir was refreshing in its honesty, vulnerability, and humanness.
Greed can drive people beyond their humanness into great cruelty and inhumanity.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of humanness
First recorded in 1690–1700; human ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )
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.
“In learning to look at each other as closely as we can and approach each other in our humanness, there exists the possibility that doing so may carry us through hatred.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
With the rise of malicious AI agents, increased calls for age verification and bots ruining everything from dating apps to ticket sales, new proof of humanness is necessary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025
"He has a deep love for people. He listens. He looks people in the eye. Sandy's humanness is my dad's humanness. I feel immensely lucky to be his son," he says.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2024
The absurdity of Monk’s dual life is tied to the ordinary humanness of his family life, because it is to some degree born of the necessity of the responsibilities to family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
They laughed then, uproariously, about the speed with which they had run, the pose they had assumed, the ruse they had invented to escape or decrease some threat to their manliness, their humanness.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
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.
