unhuman

American  

[uhn-hyoo-muhn, ‐-yoo-muhn] / ʌnˈhyu mən, ‐ˈyu mən /

adjective

1. lacking human attributes.

   The unhuman figures in his earlier work were not well received.

2. of a quality or power beyond what is human; superhuman.

   Her hands clenched the chair with unhuman strength.

3. not a member of the human species.

   Of our unhuman relatives, I love the mountain gorillas best.

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Etymology

Origin of unhuman

First recorded in 1780–85; un- ¹ ( def. ) + human ( def. )

Example Sentences

The result will be an art form emptied of talent, emptied of feeling and frighteningly unhuman.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

"It's horrible, it's unhuman," he told the BBC.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2022

It was always sort of unhuman not to be moved by them.

From Slate • Jun. 21, 2019

They are like fragments of the wild, surviving only where a trace of woodland survives, haunting whatever remains of the unhuman: old parks, pre-industrial, untilled places, forgotten roads out past the edges of towns and farms.

From The Guardian • Mar. 30, 2013

Virgil’s patriotic purpose is probably responsible for the change from the human Aeneas of the first books to the unhuman prodigy of the last.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton