amoral

English

Etymology

From a- (“not”) +‎ moral.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /eɪˈmɒɹ.əl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /eɪˈmɔɹ.əl/
• (New York City) IPA^(key): /eɪˈmɑɹ.əl/
• Rhymes: -ɒɹəl, -ɔːɹəl

Adjective

amoral (comparative more amoral, superlative most amoral)

1. (of acts) Done without consideration for morality or immorality.
   • 2023, Robert M. Sapolsky, Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will, New York: Penguin, →ISBN:

     If free will is a myth, and our actions are the mere amoral outcome of biological luck for which we are not responsible, why not just run amok?

2. (of people) Not believing in or caring for morality and immorality.

Synonyms

• non-moral

Coordinate terms

• anethical (coordinate, broadly synonymous)

Derived terms

• amoralism
• amoralist
• amoralistic
• amorality
• amoralize
• amorally

Related terms

• non-moral
• immoral

Translations

of acts

• Arabic: غَيْر أَخْلَاقِيّ (ḡayr ʔaḵlāqiyy)
• Catalan: amoral
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 與道德無關的 / 与道德无关的 (yǔ dàodé wúguānde), 不屬於道德範疇的 / 不属于道德范畴的 (bùshǔyú dàodé fànchóu de)

• Finnish: amoraalinen (fi)
• Galician: amoral (gl)
• German: amoralisch (de)
• Greek: αμοραλιστικός (el) (amoralistikós)
• Hindi: निर्नैतिक (nirnaitik), नीति निरपेक्ष (nīti nirpekṣ)
• Hungarian: amorális (hu)
• Indonesian: amoral (id), nirmoral
• Japanese: 道徳と無関係の (どうとくとむかんけいの, dōtoku to mukankei no)
• Kazakh: адамгершілікке жат (adamgerşılıkke jat)
• Malay: amoral
• Polish: immoralny (pl)
• Portuguese: amoral (pt)
• Russian: амора́льный (ru) (amorálʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: amoralan (sh)
• Spanish: amoral (es)
• Swedish: amoralisk (sv)
• Turkish: ahlak dışı (tr), ahlaksız (tr)

of people

• Arabic: عَدِيم الأَخْلَاق (ʕadīm al-ʔaḵlāq)
• Catalan: amoral
• Finnish: amoraalinen (fi)
• Galician: amoral (gl)
• Greek: αμοραλιστικός (el) (amoralistikós)
• Hindi: निर्नैतिक (nirnaitik), नीति निरपेक्ष (nīti nirpekṣ)
• Hungarian: amorális (hu)
• Polish: amoralny (pl), niemoralny (pl)
• Portuguese: amoral (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: amoralan (sh)
• Spanish: amoral (es)
• Swedish: amoralisk (sv)
• Turkish: ahlaksız (tr)

Further reading

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “amoral”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “amoral”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Alomar

Catalan

Etymology

From a- +‎ moral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ə.muˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ə.moˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [a.moˈɾal]

Adjective

amoral m or f (masculine and feminine plural amorals)

1. amoral

Related terms

• amoralitat

Further reading

• “amoral” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “amoral”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “amoral” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “amoral” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From a- +‎ moral.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Adjective

amoral (feminine amorale, masculine plural amoraux, feminine plural amorales)

1. amoral

Related terms

• moral
• immoral
• amoralement

Further reading

• “amoral”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

By surface analysis, a- +‎ moral.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /aˈmoral/ [aˈmo.ral]
• Rhymes: -oral
• Syllabification: a‧mo‧ral

Adjective

amoral

1. amoral (without morality)

Further reading

• “amoral” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Portuguese

Etymology

From a- +‎ moral.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.moˈɾaw/ [a.moˈɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.muˈɾal/ [ɐ.muˈɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.muˈɾal/ [ɐ.muˈɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.muˈɾa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: a‧mo‧ral

Adjective

amoral m or f (plural amorais)

1. amoral

Related terms

• amoralidade
• amoralismo
• amoralizar
• amoralmente

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French amoral.

Adjective

amoral m or n (feminine singular amorală, masculine plural amorali, feminine and neuter plural amorale)

1. amoral

Declension

Declension of amoral

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	amoral		amorală		amorali	amorale
	definite	amoralul		amorala		amoralii	amoralele
genitive- dative	indefinite	amoral		amorale		amorali	amorale
	definite	amoralului		amoralei		amoralilor	amoralelor

Related terms

• amoralitate
• moral

Spanish

Etymology

From a- +‎ moral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amoˈɾal/ [a.moˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧mo‧ral

Adjective

amoral m or f (masculine and feminine plural amorales)

1. amoral

   Antonym: moral

Derived terms

• amoralidad
• amoralismo
• amoralizar

Further reading

• “amoral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10