amorality

IPA/ˌeɪməˈræləti/
IPA/ˌeɪməˈræləti/

amorality — noun

1. a state of not caring whether actions are good or bad, so decisions are made as

1.nounC1
Definition

a state of not caring whether actions are good or bad, so decisions are made as if questions of right and wrong do not matter

Example

Reporters saw the minister's amorality in his joking response to the deaths.

see + amorality in someone's response

Christopher warned that market amorality could leave poor patients without care.

market amorality in public criticism

Common collocations
  • market amorality
  • corporate amorality
  • political amorality
  • sheer amorality
  • cold amorality
Synonyms
  • amoralism

    more philosophical; often names a doctrine rather than everyday behaviour

  • moral indifference

    plainer and less formal; stresses not caring rather than a stable quality

  • cynicism

    focuses on distrust of motives, not necessarily the absence of moral concern

Antonyms
  • morality

    the general system or sense of right and wrong

  • conscience

    stresses an inner feeling that guides moral choices

Grammar Patterns

amorality of N

amorality toward N

Usage Note

Usually uncountable and common in formal discussion of politics, business, fiction, or psychology. Use immorality instead when you want to say an action is morally wrong; amorality stresses that moral judgment is missing or treated as irrelevant.

Common Mistakes

The fraud showed the amorality of the officials.
The fraud showed the immorality of the officials.
use immorality when the point is that the behaviour was wrong; amorality means moral judgment is absent or ignored.

Word family

  • amoral
    adjectiveC1
  • amoralism
    nounC2
  • amoralist
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Amorality, immorality, amoralism, and cynicism all suggest a weak tie to moral values, but they are not the same. Amorality means moral questions simply do not enter a person's thinking; a ruthless system may treat harm as just another cost. Immorality is stronger and more judgmental: it says the action is wrong by accepted standards. Amoralism is mainly a philosophical label for the view that morality has no authority or should not guide action. Cynicism is different again: a cynical person expects selfish motives in others, but may still know the difference between right and wrong. So a cruel lie is immoral, while a decision process that ignores moral questions altogether feels amoral.

amorality ↗immorality ↗amoralismcynicism ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • market amorality
  • corporate amorality
  • political amorality

Phrases

  • a streak of amorality
  • the amorality of power

Prepositions

  • amorality of (a person or system)
  • amorality toward (others)

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word was built in modern English from the Greek-derived negative prefix a-, meaning 'without', attached to morality. Morality itself came into English through French from Latin moralis, meaning 'concerned with character or conduct'. Because of that history, amorality is newer than morality and usually points to the absence of moral concern rather than openly wicked behaviour.

First known use

1900

1900, in the meaning defined above