nonhuman

adjective

non·​hu·​man ˌnän-ˈhyü-mən 

-ˈyü-

: not human: such as

a

: being other than a human being

a nonhuman primate/animal

b

: not belonging to, appropriate to, or produced by human beings

nonhuman noises

nonhuman cells

nonhuman noun

Discarding the doctrine of human dignity can mean lowering the moral status of humans or raising the moral status of nonhumans, and Mr. Rachels's emphasis is ultimately on the latter.

—Robert Wright

Examples of nonhuman in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These nonhuman populations are like the canaries in the proverbial coal mine: Observing anomalies in their behavior helps humans anticipate earthquakes and tsunamis, predict how pandemics will spread, and understand the effects of climate change. —Christy Lange, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2025

Humans get a head-start over nonhuman spirits or creatures called yaoguai. —Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2025

And even some animals, such as birds, fish, reptiles, insects and nonhuman mammals, seem to fall for the trick. —Nora Bradford, Scientific American, 22 Aug. 2025

Now, an international team of researchers has recovered the first ancient Yersinia pestis genome from a nonhuman host — a Bronze Age domesticated sheep that lived around 4,000 years ago in what is nowmodern-day Russia. —Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nonhuman

• acumen
• albumen
• albumin
• bitumen
• cerumen
• curcumin
• illumine
• inhuman
• subhuman
• crewman
• crewmen
• cumin