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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Recent Examples of subhuman
Cinematographers Alejandro Chávez and Trevor Roach shoot the underworld where the victims work and live with limited light sources creating a drab, oppressive environment that highlight the subhuman conditions they are subjected to.
—
Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 30 Aug. 2024
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, 16 Mar. 2024
Others, including Gali, say the term took on a darker tone that denigrates Native women, relegating them to a subhuman stature.
—Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2024
By modern standards, the story features a horrific representation of Neanderthals; Wells imagined them as subhuman creatures hellbent on hunting humans that were migrating into their territory.
—Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 21 Dec. 2023
See All Example Sentences for subhuman
Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 30 Aug. 2024
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, 16 Mar. 2024
Others, including Gali, say the term took on a darker tone that denigrates Native women, relegating them to a subhuman stature.
—Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2024
By modern standards, the story features a horrific representation of Neanderthals; Wells imagined them as subhuman creatures hellbent on hunting humans that were migrating into their territory.
—Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 21 Dec. 2023
See All Example Sentences for subhuman
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subhuman
Adjective
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Forces allied with the government and armed civilians responded with brute force.—
Chris Massaro,
FOXNews.com,
13 May 2025
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The Pistons are young, competitive, brute, have already formed one of the league’s most in-your-face identities and now have experience, too.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
2 May 2025
Adjective
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When local Officer and single mother Dana Cypress is unexpectedly thrown into the center of a brutal murder mystery of her own, she’s left to make sense of the chaos amidst a town gripped by fear and confusion where everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
12 May 2025
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Bruno Silva via first-round KO This finish was absolutely brutal.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
11 May 2025
Adjective
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It is estimated that there are currently between 60 and 100 million stray and feral cats across America, and most of them live their life in the streets without ever even making it to an animal shelter.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 May 2025
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The digital nomad stereotype persists: feral twenty-somethings earning $2,000 monthly in Thailand.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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Pent-up emotions, regrets, and bestial longings all burst forth in an expansive baritone whose confident quietism distinguishes him from other wispier alt-centric brooders like Daniel Caesar.—
Will Dukes,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
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Pain was also inflicted on the dog deliberately during these bestial acts.—
KC Baker,
People.com,
4 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Subhuman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subhuman. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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