These two adjectives have very similar meanings and are often confused by native speakers. The difference between them is subtle but important.
Amoral means “without morals.”
Immoral means “morally bad.”
Just so we know what we’re talking about . . . a moral is a belief that a certain kind of behavior is right or wrong. On the other hand, an amoral person has no such beliefs. This does not necessarily mean that they go around hurting people; they don’t believe it is wrong OR right. Amoral people (or behaviors) are morally neutral.
An immoral person believes in behavior that other people consider to be wrong— in fact immoral is a synonym for morally wrong:
Religious people usually think atheists must be amoral because they have no religious source for morals.
However, atheists point out that religious people often behave immorally, because their religion teaches them morals that are wrong, such as discrimination against homosexual people.
While most atheists do not believe they are amoral; they have morals dictated by reason.
But it is fair to say that a truly amoral person seems likely to behave immorally.
As explained by these example sentences, the two words are fairly interchangeable because of the fact that amorality = immorality to many people, although they do have different definitions.
Amoral is most often used only to describe people, not behaviors. Perhaps this is only because we do not think behaviors can be morally neutral? In general, only people and philosophies can lack morals!
How to Use "Amoral" in a Sentence
- My dad always said that if something is amoral, then it is immoral.
- Amoral people do not seem to have a conscience about what they do.
- My amoral boss is willing to sacrifice others to further his own career.
- Jake is an amoral person who will steal your wallet if you're not watching.
- Alonzo says that we are all amoral to some degree, and he sees morality as nothing more than contigent reasoning.
How to Use "Immoral" in a Sentence
- The dictator's men committed immoral acts.
- The immoral actions of the foreign government has caused me to lose respect for their country.
- Some people feel that what is moral and what is immoral is black and white, but there are many shades of gray.
- The government has been condemned for building a road through a forest that is home to many rare species of wildlife, and is seen by many as an immoral act that must not be allowed to continue.
- It is immoral to discriminate against someone on the basis of their sexual orientation.