What does immoralist mean?
An immoralist is a person who consistently behaves in a way that violates accepted moral standards or who deliberately promotes such behaviour. The word is more than a general synonym for a bad or unethical individual: it can portray someone whose conduct is deliberately corrupt, or a thinker who treats moral restraint as a principle to be rejected. In ordinary discussion, however, it is relatively uncommon and sounds deliberately severe, resembling the language of moral criticism, political accusation, or philosophical polemic. It should be distinguished from an immoral person, who may simply have acted badly, and from an amoral person or system, which may be understood as making no moral judgement at all. Although often used figuratively, the term can also be literal, especially when discussing historical thinkers accused of rejecting conventional morality.
nounA person who deliberately acts contrary to accepted moral principles or advocates such conduct. The term can describe someone whose life is consistently immoral as well as a thinker who promotes an explicitly amoral or immoral position.
- A person who deliberately violates moral principles or openly advocates conduct regarded as immoral.
"The novel presents its antagonist as a calculating immoralist who treats other people's suffering as a convenient means to an end."
"She dismissed the accusation by arguing that political leaders were not expected to behave like incurable immoralists."
"The philosopher was branded an immoralist for treating personal advantage as the only relevant standard in public life."
The regular plural is formed by adding -s; it is used when referring to more than one person of this kind.
"The author portrays the corrupt officials as a clique of immoralists who place private gain above public trust."
Calling someone an immoralist implies more than bad conduct: it suggests that immorality has become their creed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does immoralist come from?
Immoralist is a 19th-century English formation combining the adjective immoral with the suffix -ist, meaning a person who follows or advocates a particular doctrine. The adjective immoral was itself formed from the Latin-derived word moral with the negative prefix in-, a combination used in English from the late 16th century. Its relatives moral, morality, moralist, and morale ultimately trace to the Latin adjective moralis, meaning relating to character or conduct.
Related word forms
How immoralist is actually used
This is a relatively uncommon and formal term. It may suggest a settled pattern of corrupt conduct or an explicit philosophical advocacy of immorality, and therefore carries a strongly condemnatory connotation.
Easily confused with immoralist
Immoral describes conduct that violates moral principles, whereas an immoralist is a person associated with or advocating such conduct.
Amoral means morally neutral or without a clear sense of right and wrong, while immoral implies active opposition to moral principles.