amoral

From Wiktionary

Word parts[change]

a- + moral

Adjective[change]

Positive
amoral

Comparative
more amoral

Superlative
most amoral

  1. If something is amoral it is not moral or immoral.
    1. If something is amoral it does not come from morals.
      The storm was an amoral force, that killed both good and bad people.
    2. If someone is amoral they do not have morals. This means that this person does not know the difference between right and wrong.
      He was totally amoral, and never even thought about whether to be good or evil.
  2. (informal) The same as immoral.

See also[change]

Usage notes[change]

  • Even though amoral means lacking or not knowing morals, and does not mean having bad morals, many native speaker say amoral to mean immoral.
  • Even though "amoral" is similar to innocent in not knowing good from bad, amoral is usually a bad thing and innocent a good thing. Often, innocent means doing good because you have never thought of evil; an amoral person might do good or bad.