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
The individuals and groups committing these acts are subhuman.
—
Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 24 Feb. 2025
Yet today’s LLMs are distinctly subhuman in their ability to absorb and understand large quantities of information.
—Ars Technica, 20 Dec. 2024
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
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
See All Example Sentences for subhuman
Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 24 Feb. 2025
Yet today’s LLMs are distinctly subhuman in their ability to absorb and understand large quantities of information.
—Ars Technica, 20 Dec. 2024
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
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
See All Example Sentences for subhuman
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subhuman
Adjective
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Their crime was raising their voices against a repressive government that relied on brute force and surveillance of its citizens for its survival, a regime whose authority rested on force and fear.—
Binaifer Nowrojee,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
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As the sector transitions from the initial brute-force stage of training large models to the challenge of running them affordably and efficiently on a large scale, designers are dividing into rival factions.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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With the benefit of hindsight, analysts and investors have blamed much of Kraft Heinz’s downward spiral on the brutal cost-cutting strategy imposed after the merger.—
Amelia Lucas,
CNBC,
31 Jan. 2026
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Unrelenting cold in storm’s aftermath Last weekend’s historic winter storm and the brutal cold that followed have been blamed for at least 85 deaths in the US, the Associated Press reported.—
Mary Gilbert,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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To start with the movie’s strongest asset, Fiennes is magnificent — sinewy and feral in appearance but erudite in manner, his isolation and years of living rough having done little to curb the magniloquence of a posh education.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Jan. 2026
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In 1998, Herrington heard an interview, on NPR, with Rick Varner, who hunted feral hogs for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Some deep bestial neurological structures fired inappropriately and stoked within her an instinct of brute survival.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
11 Jan. 2026
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Channels the inner, bestial urges to release an unworldly howl that pushes back any nearby enemies.—
Oliver Brandt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Subhuman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subhuman. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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