Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking kindness, pity, or compassion; cruel or indifferent.
  • adjective Not suited for human needs.
  • adjective Not of ordinary human nature, form, or character.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not human; not governed by feelings proper to human nature; specifically, not humane; hard-hearted; unfeeling; cruel.
  • Not proper to human nature; destitute of human quality; specifically, showing want of humanity; marked by unfeelingness or cruelty.
  • Synonyms Pitiless, merciless, brutal, ruthless, remorseless.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Destitute of the kindness and tenderness that belong to a human being; cruel; barbarous; savage; unfeeling.
  • adjective Characterized by, or attended with, cruelty.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to inhumanity and the indifferently cruel, sadistic or barbaric behavior it brings.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective without compunction or human feeling
  • adjective belonging to or resembling something nonhuman

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Corporation ceased to enforce what he called inhuman discrimination.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1992

  • I've typed and deleted the word "inhuman" several times.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Phillip M. Miner 2011

  • In early July, Murdoch unexpectedly announced he was shutting down the 168-year-old, Sunday-only, James Murdoch, Rupert's son and News International chairman, said the paper had lost the trust of readers due to allegations about controversial reporting practices by its staff, some of which he characterized as "inhuman."

    News - chicagotribune.com 2011

  • MANGALORE: Ambulance workers who operate the '108 service under the Arogya Kavacha scheme struck work on Saturday protesting against what they described as inhuman working conditions.

    The Hindu - Front Page 2010

  • MANGALORE: Ambulance workers who operate the '108 service under the Arogya Kavacha scheme struck work on Saturday protesting against what they described as inhuman working conditions.

    The Hindu - Front Page 2010

  • In its latest directive, the education ministry banned what it described as inhuman and merciless punishment given to students in schools.

    BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition 2010

  • MANGALORE: Ambulance workers who operate the '108 service under the Arogya Kavacha scheme struck work on Saturday protesting against what they described as inhuman working conditions.

    The Hindu - Front Page 2010

  • MANGALORE: Ambulance workers who operate the '108 service under the Arogya Kavacha scheme struck work on Saturday protesting against what they described as inhuman working conditions.

    The Hindu - Front Page 2010

  • In the same vein, he implored the European Union and the United States to lift the economic sanctions which he described as inhuman, cruel and unwarranted.

    AllAfrica News: Latest 2009

  • The National Trumpet, which was the Radical organ for the State, very naturally gave a different version of the affair, denounced it as a most outrageous political murder, and inveighed most bitterly against what it termed the inhuman barbarity of the opposition journals, which, not content with the death of Walters, sought to slay his good name by slanderous imputation, and to blast the reputation of the stricken widow with baseless hints of complicity in his death.

    A Fool's Errand. By One of the Fools 1879

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