1
: marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals
humane prison guards
a more humane way of treating farm animals
2
: characterized by or tending to broad humanistic culture : humanistic
humane studies
humanely
adverb
Synonyms
Examples of humane in a Sentence
It's not humane to treat animals that way.
Conditions in the prison are more humane now.
Recent Examples on the Web
Finally, though, wood is back in business in a versatile new form: mass timber, a sturdy, humane product engineered not from ever-scarcer old-growth hardwood trees but from much younger, softer cedar, Douglas fir, and (lately) eastern hemlock.
—
Justin Davidson, Curbed, 8 Jan. 2025
Once associated with Milton Friedman’s University of Chicago school of economics, it is properly forgotten outside the pages of right-wing libertarians — who are not traditional, humane conservatives — and reproduced in the opinion pages of the Tribune.
—Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
No one should have to make that choice, and every seat should have a humane amount of space.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 3 Jan. 2025
Humane Roach Motel This humane trap model contains the Roach Motel’s alluring bait without the deadly glue.
—Charlie Dektar, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for humane 
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Justin Davidson, Curbed, 8 Jan. 2025
Once associated with Milton Friedman’s University of Chicago school of economics, it is properly forgotten outside the pages of right-wing libertarians — who are not traditional, humane conservatives — and reproduced in the opinion pages of the Tribune.
—Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
No one should have to make that choice, and every seat should have a humane amount of space.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 3 Jan. 2025
Humane Roach Motel This humane trap model contains the Roach Motel’s alluring bait without the deadly glue.
—Charlie Dektar, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for humane
Dictionary Entries Near humane
Cite this Entry
“Humane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humane. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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