noun
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the quality, character, or state of being immoral
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immoral behaviour, esp in sexual matters; licentiousness; profligacy or promiscuity
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an immoral act
Etymology
Origin of immorality
Explanation
Immorality is evil, sinful, or otherwise wrong behavior. Immorality is often called wickedness and is a state avoided by good people. Since morality refers to things that are right, immorality has to do with things that are wrong — like stealing, lying, and murdering. This is a tricky word, because people have their own idea of what's immoral. We can all agree killing is an example of immorality, but people disagree on whether things such as bad language are truly signs of immorality. Different religions have their own ideas of immorality too, but the word is always associated with wrongness and offensiveness.
Vocabulary lists containing immorality
Kindred
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Class Matters
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Speeches 2A
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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.
The bishops complained of immorality, but Heidegger remained philosophical.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Over the past few weeks, the Taliban government began severing fibre-optic internet connections across several provinces, saying this was part of an effort to prevent immorality.
From BBC • Sep. 30, 2025
What we're in is a complete crisis of the whole basis of how we make decisions, and the short-termism and the irrationality and immorality of those decisions.
From Salon • Oct. 24, 2024
Throughout the film, several characters, namely Lucy Gray and Sejanus, try to convince those around them of the immorality of the Hunger Games.
From Washington Times • Nov. 17, 2023
The real reason, he said, was “jealousy in Chicago, and I had objected to the immorality of the man who professed to be more moral than anybody.”
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
