amoral
Americanadjective
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not involving questions of right or wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.
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having no moral standards, restraints, or principles; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong.
a completely amoral person.
adjective
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having no moral quality; nonmoral
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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
Synonym Usage
See immoral.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of amoral
Compare meaning
How does amoral compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When a person is amoral, they couldn't care less if something is right or wrong. An amoral CEO fires employees so he can make more money, unconcerned about how losing their jobs might affect them. The adjective amoral adds the prefix a-, "not," to moral, "concerned with the principles of right and wrong." Amoral people don't have a moral code — the morality or ethics of what they do doesn't matter to them, whether or not they're aware of the concept of right and wrong. Strictly speaking, you can even describe a newborn baby as amoral, since she doesn't yet have the experience to understand morality.
Vocabulary lists containing amoral
Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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Commonly Confused Words, List 9
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List 5
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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.
Amoral, selfish, careerist people tend to uncritically support people they see as useful to them, even if the latter are causing extraordinary harm.
From Slate • Feb. 20, 2020
Amoral is a very unusual word in politics—the preferred term is immoral—but it was a favorite locution of Huntsman’s father, who used it to describe the Nixon White House.
From Slate • Sep. 7, 2018
"Amoral" does not cover the ground on which he now stands.
From New York Times • Sep. 23, 2016
Amoral and/or bored corners of the Internet have been searching the data dump in pursuit of any sensational name—Hollywood actor, congressman, religious figure, PTA leader—but so far, no fancy people have been widely identified.
From Slate • Aug. 19, 2015
For it rests upon the assumption embodied in the couplet— Amoral, sensible, and well-bred man Will not affront me, and no other can.
From The Galaxy Vol. XXIII?March, 1877.?No. 3 by Various
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.
