INHUMANE Synonyms: 144 Similar and Opposite Words

inhumane

adjective

ˌin-(ˌ)hyü-ˈmān

Definition of inhumane

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings inhumane wardens who regularly ignored the crying children in their care

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in cruel

having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others an inhumane dictator who tortured and murdered thousands of his own people

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of inhumane Germany's Constitutional Court ruled last year that the extradition was unlawful because it could not be guaranteed that the defendant would not be subject to inhumane or degrading treatment in Hungarian custody. — Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026 My office will hold their victimizer fully accountable for her inhumane actions. — Eric MacK, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2026 The inspection took place weeks after the Miami Herald published an investigation into inhumane conditions at Krome — which became so overcrowded that women said they were left on a bus outside in their own urine. — Claire Healy, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026 Still, this particular ban didn’t need to go in the Constitution – a simple law would have sufficed or, better yet, allowing the CPW board to determine if these traps were too inhumane to allow. — The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 15 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for inhumane

Recent Examples of Synonyms for inhumane

Adjective

The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

— Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026
Facinelli plays the Boss, a ruthless figure whose cash ends up in the pool hustler’s hands, and intends to get it back, one way or another.

— Zac Ntim, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of ruthless

Adjective

Participants fell into their roles a little too well and, after a prisoner rebellion, increasingly cruel forms of punishment from the guards and a number of students suffering mental breakdowns, the experiment was ended on the sixth day.

— Marlow Stern, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026
But these townswomen — whether the undersexed Bakerwoman (Ella Bruccoleri ) or the prim, cruel busybody the Tailor’s Wife (a deliciously scheming Elizabeth Debicki) — are deeply unhappy with their own lot in life.

— Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of cruel

Adjective

It would be seen as a work of merciless autofiction in the vein of Karl Ove Knausgaard, and it would be discussed, as his books are, as aggressive, antisocial, and spiteful.

— B. D. McClay, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
In the story, Ria teams up with her foster mother and their fellow punks to resist a merciless developer intent on tearing down their building.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of merciless

Adjective

Now in his 25th year on television, Chuck has built a beloved media career through brutal honesty.

— Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Although the decrease in shot volume wasn’t quite as dramatic, Giddey went 1-for-10 from the field and scored only two points in Wednesday’s brutal beatdown by the Raptors.

— Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of brutal

Adjective

Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.

— Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.

— Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026

Definition of stony

Adjective

The vicious cycle of the current model, of course, is that to become marketable a team needs to get and retain good players, and to do that a school has to spend money, which cycles the whole thing back to the start.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Governments were expected to rescue struggling banks, which held large amounts of sovereign debt, creating a vicious cycle.

— Jenni Reid,Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of vicious

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inhuman

inhumane

inhumanely

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“Inhumane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inhumane. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of inhumane

adjective

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