The two brothers cause a lot of mischief. The first one is amoral, so if he causes you damage, it wouldn’t be on purpose. But the second one is immoral and selfish. He does all the wrong knowingly.
Troubled about the usage of amoral and immoral? Both of these adjectives describe people doing something that is generally considered negative or undesirable. So which one to use when? Typically, an amoral person does wrong unknowingly because he cannot comprehend what’s wrong and what’s right. Whereas, an immoral person is someone who does wrong deeds on purpose as he can differentiate between right and wrong but does them anyway. This makes him worse. This is because he is either doing wrong with the intent of harm or as an entertainment.
Amoral vs immoral – definitions and meanings
Definition of amoral
Amoral is used as an adjective when someone or something lacks a sense of morality while he acts. In the word ‘amoral’ the prefix ‘a’ means without. It is placed before the word ‘moral’ which means someone who has regard for the principles of right and wrong.
The word amoral indicates someone who is unconcerned with the rights and wrongs of the world like a toddler, an animal or an inanimate object. A mad person is also amoral. Besides these examples amoral can also be used for any sane person who forgets his moral values, becomes unconcerned but isn’t completely evil.
Example sentences of amoral
- All politicians are amoral beings, guided by their greed they commit crimes a normal person cannot imagine.
This sentence implies that all politicians show no concern of moral values while they act. And because of this lack of understanding, they are directed into doing crimes of the highest order. This is because when you revoke your moral values you can commit the most vicious of crimes without blinking an eye. Notice, that amoral is a very descriptive word; there is a lot of context involved in its meaning.
- All infants are amoral, but as they grow it is the responsibility of their parents to teach them the difference between right and wrong.
This sentence is advising parents, that even though young children are amoral, it is best to start teaching them some principles of right and wrong as they grow.
- The scientist told his tale with tearful eyes, ‘The amoral dog knocked the candle and burnt my precious years of research.’
Apparently, since the scientist was utilizing a candle, this is a dialogue from the older ages. The scientist is grieving over his loss of research, which he took years to complete. The research was completely burnt in an instant because of the dog. Notice, that the dog cannot be blamed as he is amoral and lacks the ability to differentiate between right and wrong and thus he cannot be punished.
Definition of immoral
The word immoral is an adjective that describes a person or behavior of a person that goes against the set standards or right-doing. An immoral person does wrong with the intent of wrongdoing or inflicting harm. He is capable of differentiating between right or wrong but does them anyway which makes him wicked, corrupt and evil.
Example sentences of immoral
- The immoral thieves also killed a handful of people while they robbed the bank.
This sentence implies that the thieves were completely evil, because they not only robbed people’s savings from the bank but also killed many people.
- The immoral king was obsessed with riches, so he dug his own grave when he invited foreigners in his country, assuming they had come for trade.
This sentence implies that since the corrupt king was obsessed with piling up riches for himself, he thought he had invited foreigners in his country for trade. But in reality, he had dug his own grave, meaning he had paved his own road to destruction because he had given the foreigners a chance to take up his throne since his grasp on his kingdom was weak.
- In the famous movie series, ‘The Harry Potter, the top villain and the evil mastermind Voldemort recruited an immoral team of villains, who were called the ‘death eaters’ as they massacred many people throughout the series.
This sentence talks about the villains of the famous movie series ‘The Harry Potter.’ The wicked villain was called ‘Lord Voldemort.’ He had made an army of corrupt people called the ‘death eaters.’ They were specifically given a vicious name because of their vile actions of killing people.
Differentiating amoral and immoral is a challenging task so here’s a top selling tip to help you remember which one to use when. Amoral is used as a descriptive word; people normally use it when they are describing people who do not deserve punishment. Immoral is used when passing judgment like when you say ‘He is wicked and corrupt.’ You can also say, ‘He is immoral.’ It is used when you’re trying to say that someone is guilty and deserves a punishment for his or her act.
