Meaning & use
human-like
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Resembling a person in appearance, behavior or ability.
Grammar: Goes before a noun or after be: a human-like robot; the voice is human-like.
Patterns
- human-like in something
- a human-like voice
The robot has a human-like face that can smile.
Chatbots are becoming more human-like in how they answer questions.
Scientists were surprised by the human-like way the chimpanzee solved the puzzle.
Common combinations
- human-like intelligence
- No machine yet has truly human-like intelligence.
- human-like robot
- The factory unveiled a human-like robot that can walk upstairs.
- human-like voice
- The assistant's human-like voice made callers forget it was software.
- human-like behavior
- The dog showed almost human-like behavior when it comforted her.
- remarkably human-like
- The animation was remarkably human-like.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lifelike
- Lifelike means very close to a real living thing, whereas human-like names the specific likeness to a person.
- anthropomorphic
- Anthropomorphic is the technical word for giving human form to non-humans and is more formal.
- humanoid
- Humanoid describes the body shape of a creature or robot, while human-like can describe behavior too.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: human-like or humane?
human-like vs humane
Humane means kind and showing compassion. Human-like only means resembling a person.
Practice
A robot with a body shaped like a person's could be described as ____.
Choose one answer.
Human-like is the adjective meaning resembling a person. Humane means compassionate, and the other options are a noun and an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “human-like”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.