Immoral Vs. Amoral Vs. Unmoral
At first glance these three words look as if they mean same thing, but this is not right. However, these three words have distinct meanings. Let's see more about these words.
Amoral (Adj.)
Immoral (Adj.)
Unmoral (Adj.)
When to use prefix im (in, il, ir) and un ?
Although we know the prefix im and un both mean "not", we don't know when to use them.
In this case what H.W. Fowler says:
Like inhuman and unhuman, inapt and unapt; Inhuman means a human with lack of kindness, whereas unhuman means not a human, you can say a zombie.
Difference between Immoral and Unmoral.
Immoral vs Unmoral: As is the case with prefix in and un, immoral means wicked and corrupt. You may call a corrupt person immoral because he or she knows what is wrong and what, right.
Unmoral means lacking moral sense, not moral; it is used of animals and inanimate objects.
Immoral vs Amoral
Perfect examples for the difference between immoral and amoral:
"An amoral person is one who does not know the difference between right and wrong.
An immoral person knows the difference but does wrong anyway."
Mind Tricks:
According to Garner's Modern American Usage:
At first glance these three words look as if they mean same thing, but this is not right. However, these three words have distinct meanings. Let's see more about these words.
Amoral (Adj.)
- Amoral is an adjective; it means not following any moral rules and not caring about right and wrong, according to oxford.
- That child was an amoral.
- His amorality helped him to survive in war.
Immoral (Adj.)
- (of people and their behaviour) not considered to be good or honest by most people
- Deliberately violating accepted principles of right and wrong
- Not adhering to ethical or moral principles
- Keeping immigrant children in cages is immoral.
- It's immoral to remain silent about the truth of an accusation.
- It is immoral to rip children from the arms of their parents.
Unmoral (Adj.)
- Lacking any sense of moral standards; without moral sense, not moral like animals are unmoral.
When to use prefix im (in, il, ir) and un ?
Although we know the prefix im and un both mean "not", we don't know when to use them.
In this case what H.W. Fowler says:
It is a general truth that, while it is legitimate to prefix un, but not in, to any adjective of whatever form, those negative adjectives in prefix in that exist are normally preferred to the corresponding un forms; but when an in (or il, im, ir) adjective has developed a sense that is something more than the negation of the positive, an un form is often used.In brief, the prefix un is used to make a positive adjective to fully negative, while prefix in is used to make a positive adjective to rather negative.
Like inhuman and unhuman, inapt and unapt; Inhuman means a human with lack of kindness, whereas unhuman means not a human, you can say a zombie.
Difference between Immoral and Unmoral.
Immoral vs Unmoral: As is the case with prefix in and un, immoral means wicked and corrupt. You may call a corrupt person immoral because he or she knows what is wrong and what, right.
Unmoral means lacking moral sense, not moral; it is used of animals and inanimate objects.
Immoral vs Amoral
Perfect examples for the difference between immoral and amoral:
"An amoral person is one who does not know the difference between right and wrong.
An immoral person knows the difference but does wrong anyway."
Mind Tricks:
These three words can easily be learned by knowing its prefix. They have different prefixes but same root word, i.e, moral.
Immoral comes from prefix im/in that means "not" + moral. It means not caring about any moral.
Amoral comes from prefix a means "without" + moral. It means not knowing or without any moral.
Unmoral comes from un meaning "not (in sense of lacking) " + moral. It means absence of any sense of moral.
According to Garner's Modern American Usage:
These three words have distinct meanings. Immoral, the opposite of moral, means "evil, depraved." The word is highly judgmental(one thing is good for you but not for others). Umoral means merely "without moral sense, not moral," and is used, for example, of animals and inanimate objects. Amoral, perhaps the most commonly misused of these term, means "not moral, outside the sphere of morality: being neither moral nor immoral." It is loosely applied to people in the sense "not having morals or scruples."
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