human
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, characteristic of, or having the nature of people.
human frailty.
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consisting of people.
the human race.
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of or relating to the social aspect of people.
human affairs.
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sympathetic; humane.
a warmly human understanding.
noun
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humans
plural
adjective
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of, characterizing, or relating to man and mankind
human nature
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consisting of people
the human race
a human chain
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having the attributes of man as opposed to animals, divine beings, or machines
human failings
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kind or considerate
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natural
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noun
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A member of the species Homo sapiens; a human being.
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A member of any of the extinct species of the genus Homo, such as Homo erectus or Homo habilis, that are considered ancestral or closely related to modern humans.
Pronunciation
Pronunciations of words like human, huge, etc., with the initial deleted: , , while sometimes criticized, are heard from speakers at all social and educational levels, including professors, lawyers, and other public speakers.
Synonym Usage
Human, humane may refer to that which is, or should be, characteristic of human beings. In thus describing characteristics, human may refer to good and bad traits of a person alike ( human kindness; human weakness ). When emphasis is placed upon the latter, human is thought of as contrasted to divine: To err is human, to forgive divine. He was only human. Humane (the original spelling of human, and since 1700 restricted in meaning) takes into account only the nobler or gentler aspects of people and is often contrasted to their more ignoble or brutish aspect. A humane person is benevolent in treating fellow humans or helpless animals; the word once had also connotations of courtesy and refinement (hence, the application of humane to those branches of learning intended to refine the mind).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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humannessnoun
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half-humanadjective
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human-likeadjective
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humanlikeadjective
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interhumanadjective
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overhumanadjective
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pseudohumanadjective
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quasi-humanadjective
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transhumanadjective
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ultrahumanadjective
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unhumanadjective
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quasi-humanlyadverb
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unhumanlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of human
First recorded in 1350–1400; earlier humain(e), humayn(e), Middle English, from Middle French humain, from Latin hūmānus, akin to homō “human being”; cf. Homo ( def. ); spelling human predominant from early 18th century
Explanation
Unlike a pickle or a chipmunk, a human is a person. You can identify a human by the two legs it stands on, its upright stature, its high intelligence, and its speech that you'll understand if you're one, too. Human was first recorded in the mid 13th century, and owes its existence to the Middle French humain “of or belonging to man.” That word, in turn, comes from the Latin humanus, thought to be a hybrid relative of homo, meaning “man,” and humus, meaning “earth.”
Vocabulary lists containing human
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 7
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"The Legend of the Yakwawiak"
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Anthropology Lingo
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mr. Grant is one of the most charming human beings alive, and his voiceover narration as he develops from cad to dad is dryly hilarious.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the move over a practice it said conlifted with "human dignity, fairness, and the values enshrined in our Constitution."
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
“I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
The delegations were made up of Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova, as well as Ukrainian MP Davyd Arakhamia and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
It was surely impossible for her feeble human eyes to see Clare and Gingersnipes through the underbrush, surely impossible for her feeble human ears to hear their bickering; nevertheless, he felt a chill of fear.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
The third pathway, called the corticospinal tract, has a particularly important role in humans because it supports precise movements, including the fine control of our fingers.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026
Plague infects ferrets and humans alike, so emergency room doctors in nearby Wall and Rapid City are trained to proactively treat field technicians if they show up with body aches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
According to the ministry, conflicts between bears and humans are "relatively rare" unless the animals are startled or protecting their cubs and food.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
“I do think that being in constant engagement with humans on the podcast or listening intently or empathetically is what acting is all about,” Maron said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
He saw a large, high-ceilinged room lined with oil paintings—some of humans, some of creatures, some of both, side by side.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
