subhuman
6
8.2
- adjective
- /sʌbˈhjuːmən/
- Slur
:
subhumano
- It reminds me of a time in our history, in this country, when... we were considered inferior... subhuman, and we should never forget.
She's an absolute subhuman gargoyle lizard person.
- She's an absolute subhuman gargoyle lizard person.
- The Harkonnens clearly are subhuman in their their beastial desires.
- I mean, how do you make peace when people believe that you're subhuman, subhuman and superhuman?
- We're not with, with the zoos or with all the, you know, the animal side of the Kingdom here, subhuman blah, blah, blah, blah.
Examples
-
The government policy treated the refugees as subhuman, denying them basic rights and dignity.
-
Comparing human beings to dogs perpetuated the ideology that Blacks were subhuman and deserved dehumanizing treatment.
Academic text (2016) -
A human life, not a subhuman slave life.
Academic text (2010) -
In societies where women are regarded and treated as a subhuman species, the irrelevancy of the question is obvious.
Academic text (1995) -
People whose minds are in thrall to such odious ways of thinking will be inclined to view certain other people as subhuman and will thus tend to feel no sense of fellowship or sympathy toward them.
Academic text (2018) -
Many activists fight against the subhuman conditions that imprisoned individuals are forced to endure.
-
The author highlights how propaganda often portrays certain groups as subhuman to justify discrimination.
Synonyms
1
8.5
Not having feelings or kindness that people usually have
Treated as if you have no feelings or worth
Antonyms
How Human
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Subhuman comes from sub- 'under' and human, so it means 'under human'. Think of someone put 'under' human — this helps to remember that subhuman is used when people are seen as less than human and are denied basic rights or respect.