amoral
Americanadjective
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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.
adjective
-
having no moral quality; nonmoral
-
without moral standards or principles
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
Related Words
See immoral.
Other Word Forms
- amoralism noun
- amorality noun
- amorally adverb
Etymology
Origin of amoral
Compare meaning
How does amoral compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
It’s not amoral to exercise exceptional prudence when considering an attack on another country, no matter how odious you may find its government.
From Salon
He’s an amoral tycoon who would enslave an entire country to make a buck.
From Los Angeles Times
There are plenty of people who care enough to put the time and effort into uncovering the extent of the amoral world we’ve found ourselves in.
From Salon
Mao and his Communists, he argues, embraced this celebration of the amoral.
It is human nature to project our phobias, prejudices and obsessions onto what is simply a biological contest between our immune system and the amoral pathogens trying to replicate themselves within us.
Definitions 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.
