Immoral means acting against moral standards — the person knows the rule and breaks it. Amoral means operating outside moral considerations altogether: the standards simply do not apply or are not consulted. A thief is immoral; a market, a machine or an infant is amoral.
The core difference
Both prefixes negate, but differently. Im- means "not conforming"; a- means "without".
- immoral — violates accepted standards: an immoral act.
- amoral — outside moral judgement: an amoral algorithm, amoral market forces.
Why the difference bites
Calling someone amoral is a much stranger accusation than calling them immoral. Immoral says they did wrong; amoral says right and wrong were never in play for them — which, applied to a person, is a claim about their whole moral capacity rather than about one action.
The third term
Nonmoral is sometimes used in philosophy for things to which moral categories simply do not apply — the colour of a wall. It overlaps with amoral but avoids its accusatory edge.
Frequently asked questions
Is amoral worse than immoral?
They are different rather than ranked. Immoral means breaking moral standards; amoral means operating outside them, which applied to a person is a broader claim.
Can a company be amoral?
The word is often used that way — describing an organisation that pursues objectives without moral considerations entering the calculation.
What does the a- prefix mean?
Without, from Greek. Compare atypical, asymmetric, apolitical.