Word.ws English Dictionary

inhumane

/ˌɪnhjuːˈmeɪn/

inhumane is the alternative form of inhuman.

Meaning of inhuman

Adjective

inhuman (comparative more inhuman, superlative most inhuman)

  1. Of or pertaining to inhumanity and the indifferently cruel, sadistic or barbaric behavior it brings.
    • It was replaced by a New Euston, "bold in design and layout and in keeping with a new railway era". Betjeman was unmoved, describing it tersely as "no masterpiece" and noting that its lack of platform seating made it an "inhuman structure" which seemed to ignore passengers.2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 45
  2. Transcending or different than what is human.
    • When he was out among men, seeking his own ends, and “making good! his colliery workings, he had an almost uncanny shrewdness, hardness, and a straight sharp punch. It was as if his very passivity and prostitution to the Magna Mater gave him insight into material business affairs, and lent him a...1832, David Herbert Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover, McFarland, page 209

Synonyms of inhumane

22 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

Forms of inhumane

comparativemore inhumane
superlativemost inhumane

Origin of inhumane

Originally a variant spelling and pronunciation of inhuman, ultimately from Latin inhūmānus; it appears to have died out 17c. but returned c. 1822, probably a reformation as a negative of humane from in- + humane.

Words formed from inhumane

Words that rhyme with inhumane

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about inhumane

What is inhumane the alternative form of?
Inhumane is the alternative form of inhuman.
How do you pronounce inhumane?
Inhumane is pronounced /ˌɪnhjuːˈmeɪn/.

Words near inhumane in the dictionary

  1. inhospitality
  2. inhouse
  3. inhowfar
  4. Inhul
  5. inhuman
  6. inhumane
  7. inhumanely
  8. inhumaneness
  9. inhumanest
  10. inhumanities
  11. inhumanity

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: inhumane (page history and authors); inhuman (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-inhumane.ogg.

Cite this entry: “inhumane.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inhumane. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.