Word
amoral
Meanings
Not guided by, or not concerned with, moral principles; indifferent to right and wrong.
Morally neutral; outside the scope of moral judgment (often used for systems, forces, or ideas).
Definition
Amoral describes a person or action that shows no concern for what is right or wrong.
If someone is amoral, they do not use moral principles to guide their choices. They may focus on personal gain, efficiency, or pleasure without considering whether an action is ethical. It is different from immoral, which means actively doing what is wrong. Amoral often suggests indifference rather than deliberate wrongdoing.
Examples
- I found his explanation chillingly amoral, as if consequences mattered only when they slowed him down.
- You may admire her strategic mind, but her amoral approach to loyalty makes her hard to trust.
- He presented the layoffs as a purely technical decision, sounding almost amoral in the face of the team’s anxiety.
- They built a recommendation algorithm that is essentially amoral, amplifying whatever keeps users clicking.
- She wrote the villain as convincingly amoral, driven by curiosity rather than hatred.
Common mistake
Learners often confuse amoral (indifferent to morality) with immoral (knowingly doing something wrong).
More at C1 level
- ubiquitous Present, appearing, or found everywhere at the same time.
- xenophobia Xenophobia is a strong dislike or fear of people from other countries or cultures.
- genocide Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular group in order to …
- conundrum A conundrum is a confusing and difficult problem to solve.
- pretentious Trying to seem more important, intelligent, or cultured than you really are.
More adjectives
- agnostic An agnostic is someone who does not claim to know whether God exists.
- pragmatic Pragmatic means focused on practical results rather than ideals or theories.
- ubiquitous Present, appearing, or found everywhere at the same time.
- cynical Cynical describes believing that people are mainly motivated by self-interest and not sincere.
- apathetic Apathetic means showing little or no interest, concern, or enthusiasm.