SUB-HUMAN Synonyms: 69 Similar and Opposite Words

subhuman

adjective

ˌsəb-ˈhyü-mən

Definition of subhuman

as in brute

having or showing the nature and appetites of a lower animal years of grinding poverty that had reduced them to a subhuman existence

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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 subhuman The labor movement undertook two fights, resisting workers being displaced by machines but also resisting workers being treated as machines, subhuman fodder fuelling technological progress. — Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2026 Another friend was an evangelical pastor who grew up in the Jim Crow South believing that Black people were subhuman. — John Blake, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2025 But even past that, Tactics is directly about how the rich and powerful view the poor and weak as almost subhuman, practically delighting in the squalor and suffering normal people go through. — Hayes Madsen, Rolling Stone, 24 Sep. 2025 So, yeah, there are Muslim terrorists, but they are also shown as people with lives and interests and not subhuman villains, which, umm, could’ve been worse. — Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 30 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for subhuman

Recent Examples of Synonyms for subhuman

Adjective

The original 1960s cars had legendary status dominating the Monte Carlo Rally, outmaneuvering heavier machinery across icy mountain passes with lightweight agility rather than brute off-road hardware.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 9 Oct. 2026
Its style is terse, cool, and detached, presenting warfare as primarily a problem of calculation rather than brute force or individual courage.

— Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of brute

Adjective

While uptight Elinor excels at hiding her feelings for the similarly taciturn Edward, Marianne goes wild (nearly feral, really) when new neighbor Willoughby saves her from physical injury (literally sweeping her off her feet and a wincing ankle).

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026
The murder of the family is graphic enough, but what happens to Ethan and Ivy is far more perverse, especially when Ivy’s apparently dead body is defiled by one of the feral desert gang members.

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of feral

Adjective

Those who believe Israelis and Jews capable of such an outrage might feel justified in wishing that such bestial monsters were wiped from the Earth—a shift from disgust to dehumanization to possible destruction that is well charted by social psychologists.

— David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
Neither one of these people appears to be enjoying themselves, but the woman soon begins to grunt with the bestial upset of a werewolf under a full moon.

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 May 2026

Definition of bestial

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subheads

subhuman

subhumid

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“Subhuman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subhuman. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of subhuman

adjective

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