noun
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lack of humane qualities
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an inhumane act, decision, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of inhumanity
1470–80; earlier inhumanite < Latin inhūmānitās. See inhuman, -ity
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.
See Examples For:
When Kafka died of tuberculosis in 1924 at age 40, he was virtually unknown; by the late 1930s he was an international phenomenon, his surname a signifier of bureaucratic inhumanity and modern unease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
"It's important to participate in these things and shine a light on injustice, shine a light on inhumanity, shine a light on suffering," DiDonato said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
But it’s still a cold statement on inhumanity when Justine flees into a convenience store for safety, only for the clerk to order her back outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
It was a story of institutional inhumanity – which, at first, many found unbelievable.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2025
Ultimately, Badenhorst was not evil; his inhumanity had been foisted upon him by an inhuman system.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
There are moments of tender resplendence that are as piercing as the cruelty — compassion that counterbalances the inhumanities Elwood faces.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024
Fragmented senses of continuity and context have been powerful conditions to allow the multiple, ongoing crises and inhumanities we witness and experience every day.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2023
In one clip, Keith LaMar speaks about feeling victorious simply for having maintained his “sweetness” — a personal quality that’s obvious in his voice — despite the inhumanities of living in solitary confinement for decades.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2022
Like the inhumanities catalogued in contemporary prison-camp memoirs, run-of-the-mill Renaissance crimes tend to numb rather than fascinate.
From Time Magazine Archive
He had investigated Newgate and other prisons and had brought charges against the keepers and succeeded in bringing their inhumanities before the public.
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 09 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Reformers by Elbert Hubbard
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.
