inhumane

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌɪnhjuˈmeɪn/ UK /ˌɪnhjuːˈmeɪn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
lacking compassion or kindness; cruel

Critics condemned the inhumane conditions in the overcrowded camp.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · lacking compassion or... cruel heartless merciless brutal pitiless callous

Opposites

humane compassionate kind merciful

Word family

Derived forms inhumanely

Related forms humane inhuman humanity

Etymology

From in- ('not') + humane, the latter a variant of human specialized to mean 'compassionate', ultimately from Latin humanus, from homo ('man, human being').

in- Latin humanus Latin homo Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# inhumane

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌɪnhjuˈmeɪn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌɪnhjuːˈmeɪn/

## Meanings
1. lacking compassion or kindness; cruel

## Examples
- Critics condemned the inhumane conditions in the overcrowded camp.

## Synonyms
- cruel
- heartless
- merciless
- brutal
- pitiless
- callous

## Antonyms
- humane
- compassionate
- kind
- merciful

## Derived Forms
- inhumanely

## Related Forms
- humane
- inhuman
- humanity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: in-
- Root: humanus
- Root: homo

## Etymology
From in- ('not') + humane, the latter a variant of human specialized to mean 'compassionate', ultimately from Latin humanus, from homo ('man, human being').

## AI Etymology
inhumane comes from in- ('not') + humane, the latter a variant of human specialized to mean 'compassionate', ultimately from Latin humanus, from homo ('man, human being'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the adjective sense is "lacking compassion or kindness; cruel", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as humane, inhuman, and humanity, and in derivatives such as inhumanely. Its semantic neighborhood includes cruel, heartless, merciless, and brutal, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin in-, Latin humanus, and Latin homo.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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