amoral

[ ey-mawr-uh l, a-mawr-, ey-mor-, a-mor- ]

/ eɪˈmɔr əl, æˈmɔr-, eɪˈmɒr-, æˈmɒr- /

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adjective

not involving questions of right or wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.

having no moral standards, restraints, or principles; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong: a completely amoral person.

Nearby words

Origin of amoral

First recorded in 1880–85; a-⁶ + moral

SYNONYMS FOR amoral

See immoral.

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Related formsa·mor·al·ism, nouna·mo·ral·i·ty

[ey-muh-ral-i-tee, am-uh-] /ˌeɪ məˈræl ɪ ti, ˌæm ə-/, nouna·mor·al·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for amoral

Blame the African countries and the amoral people who go into the savannahs and the forests and slaughter the animals.
A World Without Elephants? Blame China|Michael Tomasky|August 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If I were an ambitious, amoral politician looking for higher office, I'd sign up with the GOP.
Why I'd Rather be a Black Republican|Jamelle Bouie|February 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Beastie John Avlon put it well: He's "a deeply moral man who happens to be amoral when it comes to politics."
Of Course, Now He'll Fund FEMA!|Michael Tomasky|November 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Which nearly 30 years later is not only absolutely meaningless but amoral.
The Greatest Football Player That Never Was|Buzz Bissinger|February 10, 2011|DAILY BEAST

I soon thought of this new and amoral cynicism as the most pernicious form of minstrelsy ever created and popularized.
The Hip Hop Inauguration|Stanley Crouch|December 19, 2008|DAILY BEAST
In respect to justice, to right and wrong, the spirit of Christianity is not so much immoral as amoral.
A Grammar of Freethought|Chapman Cohen
At one end were the amoral characters whose excesses became steadily worse as the situation blackened.
The Armed Forces Officer|U. S. Department of Defense
Iago has been described as immoral; he does not seem to me to be immoral, but amoral, as the intellect always is.
The Man Shakespeare|Frank Harris
Fighting to hold her man; fighting the unknown odds of an alien world, the stealthy seduction of an amoral people.
Impact|Irving E. Cox
Children and parents were amoral and competed for the same resources.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin

British Dictionary definitions for amoral

amoral

/ (eɪˈmɒrəl) /

adjective

having no moral quality; nonmoral

without moral standards or principles

Derived Formsamorality (ˌeɪmɒˈrælɪtɪ), nounamorally, adverb

usage

Amoral is often wrongly used where immoral is meant. Immoral is properly used to talk about the breaking of moral rules, amoral about people who have no moral code or about places or situations where moral considerations do not apply

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for amoral

amoral

adj.

"ethically indifferent," 1882, a hybrid formed from Greek privative prefix a- "not" (see a- (3)) + moral, which is derived from Latin. First used by Robert Louis Stephenson (1850-1894) as a differentiation from immoral.

amoral

adjective

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Origin of amoral

Examples from the Web for amoral

amoral

adjective

usage

amoral