inhuman

inhuman — adjective

1. showing a complete lack of the kindness and compassion that most people would ex

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

showing a complete lack of the kindness and compassion that most people would expect human beings to show toward one another

Example

What shocked the United Nations officials most was the inhuman way the prisoners were kept.

atypical fronting: 'What shocked... was the inhuman way'

No one could understand how a person could commit such an inhuman crime.

Common collocations
  • inhuman treatment
  • inhuman conditions
  • inhuman crime
  • inhuman acts
  • inhuman violence
  • inhuman cruelty
Synonyms
  • brutal

    focuses on physical violence; less emotional than inhuman

  • savage

    suggests wild, primitive violence; stronger connotation of uncontrolled rage

  • merciless

    emphasises the refusal to show pity; can apply to a person's character directly

  • barbaric

    implies a lack of civilisation; often used for cultural practices considered cruel

Antonyms
  • humane

    showing kindness and care for others, especially those who are suffering

  • compassionate

    actively caring about others' pain and wanting to help

Grammar Patterns

inhuman + noun (treatment, conditions, acts)

it is inhuman + to-infinitive

so inhuman that + clause

Usage Note

Subject is typically a situation, condition, or action — not usually a person's inherent nature. Compare with inhumane: inhuman is stronger and implies a shocking, extreme lack of humanity; inhumane focuses on the absence of compassion (e.g. 'inhumane working hours' vs 'inhuman acts of torture').

Common Mistakes

The boss was inhuman to his employees' (sounds like the boss is not human at all).
The boss gave his employees inhuman working hours.
Inhuman describes the situation or action, not the person's character as a whole.
It is inhumane to kill someone for stealing bread.' (too weak).
It is inhuman to kill someone for stealing bread.
Use inhuman for actions that are shockingly cruel; use inhumane for a lack of kindness that falls short of extreme cruelty.

2. having an appearance, sound, or quality that is so strange or unnatural that it

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

having an appearance, sound, or quality that is so strange or unnatural that it does not seem to belong to a human being

Example

An inhuman scream came from the dark forest, making everyone freeze where they stood.

describes an unnerving sound: inhuman + noun for sound

The old photograph showed a tall figure with an inhuman shape Salma could not explain.

Common collocations
  • inhuman scream
  • inhuman noise
  • inhuman speed
  • inhuman shape
  • inhuman voice
  • inhuman strength
Synonyms
  • unnatural

    broader — can describe any deviation from nature, not just from human form

  • unearthly

    suggests something from outside the human world, often in a scary way

  • otherworldly

    can be positive or neutral; less frightening than inhuman

  • monstrous

    implies ugliness or evil, not just strangeness

Antonyms
  • human

    relating to or typical of people

  • natural

    existing in nature and expected

Grammar Patterns

inhuman + noun (cry, scream, speed, shape)

so inhuman that + clause

Usage Note

Unlike sense 1 (EXTREMELY CRUEL), this sense carries no moral judgment — it describes something that is unsettling because it does not match a human appearance or quality. The non-human quality can be positive (inhuman beauty, inhuman talent) but is most often frightening.

Common Mistakes

That robot is inhuman' (neutral description, confusing with 'non-human').
That robot moves with an inhuman grace that gives me chills.
Inhuman adds an emotional response of unease; non-human is a factual category.

Word family

  • inhumanly
    adverbC1
  • inhumanity
    nounC1
  • inhumane
    adjectiveB2
  • inhumaneness
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four describe extreme cruelty, but each has a different flavour. Brutal focuses on physical force and violence — a brutal attack is one that causes heavy harm. Savage suggests wild, uncontrolled aggression, as if the person has lost all civilised restraint. Merciless emphasises the absence of pity rather than the presence of violence — a merciless critic does not soften their judgment. Barbaric links cruelty to a lack of civilisation, often used to condemn practices seen as primitive. Inhuman sits above all of these: it does not just describe a cruel act but says the act is so terrible that it seems to come from someone who has lost their human qualities entirely. For example, 'the soldiers' brutal methods' describes their violence, while 'the soldiers' inhuman methods' condemns them as beyond human decency. Use inhuman when you want to express that an action belongs to a realm of cruelty that normal human standards cannot account for.

brutal ↗savage ↗mercilessbarbaric

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • truly inhuman
  • utterly inhuman
  • almost inhuman

Phrases

  • so inhuman that
  • inhuman in its
  • something inhuman about

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Inhuman comes from the Latin inhumanus, a combination of the prefix in- ('not') and humanus ('human, humane, civilised'). The word entered English in the 1400s through Middle French (inhumain). From the beginning it carried both meanings: lacking the kindness expected of humans (the cruel sense) and lacking the physical qualities of a human (the strange-appearance sense). The two senses have coexisted for over five centuries, though the 'cruel' sense has always been more common.