amoral

[ ey-mawr-uhl, a-mawr-, ey-mor-, a-mor- ]

adjective

1. not involving questions of right or wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.
2. having no moral standards, restraints, or principles; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong:

   a completely amoral person.

amoral

/ eɪˈmɒrəl; ˌeɪmɒˈrælɪtɪ /

adjective

1. having no moral quality; nonmoral
2. 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

Derived Forms

• amorality, noun
• aˈmorally, adverb

Other Words From

• a·moral·ism noun
• a·mo·ral·i·ty [ey-m, uh, -, ral, -i-tee, am-, uh, -], noun
• a·moral·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of amoral¹

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

Synonym Study

See immoral.

Example Sentences

Former President Trump spent his last full day of campaigning Monday saying that only he can save America from an apocalyptic future dominated by out-of-control government, an “invasion” of criminal immigrants and amoral liberals — messages of dark foreboding much like the ones that have powered the Republican’s decade on the national stage.

From Los Angeles Times

They are as amoral as Trump’s vile army — and some of them have joined it.

From Salon

Scripted by journalist Gabriel Sherman, who wrote a 2014 bestseller about late Fox News chief Roger Ailes, the darkly comic film presents Trump as a sleazy and callous, if charismatic, social climber who learns the art of achieving power through aggressive attacks, ethical disregard and the strategic manipulation of the the media under the tutelage of the amoral and deeply flawed Cohn.

From Los Angeles Times

A prosecution psychiatrist portrayed her as a bored, amoral rich kid who lacked a sense of meaning and found a warped sense of liberation as an SLA soldier.

From Los Angeles Times

Calling him “the last of the automotive wildcatters,” then-Times auto columnist Dan Neil wrote: “DeLorean enters history not as a visionary but as an arrogant, amoral hipster, a victim of his own toxic vanity.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• barbarous
• excessive
• outrageous
• preposterous
• uncivilized
• unethical
• unfair
• unjust
• unreasonable
• wanton