immoral

UK: /ɪˈmɒr^əl/ US: /ɪˈmɔrəl, ɪˈmɑr-/ ,(i môr′əl, i mor′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

im•mor•al /ɪˈmɔrəl, ɪˈmɑr-/   adj. 

1. going against moral principles:
   The protesters considered the war immoral.
2. not moral, esp. in sexual matters:
   an immoral movie.

im•mor•al•ly, adv. See -mor-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

im•mor•al  (i môr′əl, i mor′-), adj. 

1. violating moral principles;
   not conforming to the patterns of conduct usually accepted or established as consistent with principles of personal and social ethics.
2. licentious or lascivious.

• im-² + moral 1650–60

im•mor′al•ly, adv. 
Synonyms

bad, wicked, dissolute, dissipated, profligate. Immoral, abandoned, depraved describe one who makes no attempt to curb self-indulgence. Immoral, referring to conduct, applies to one who acts contrary to or does not obey or conform to standards of morality; it may also mean licentious and perhaps dissipated. Abandoned, referring to condition, applies to one hopelessly, and usually passively, sunk in wickedness and unrestrained appetites. Depraved, referring to character, applies to one who voluntarily seeks evil and viciousness. Immoral, amoral, nonmoral, and unmoral are sometimes confused with one another. Immoral means not moral and connotes evil or licentious behavior. Amoral, nonmoral, and unmoral, virtually synonymous although the first is by far the most common form, mean utterly lacking in morals (either good or bad), neither moral nor immoral. However, since, in some contexts, there is a stigma implicit in a complete lack of morals, being amoral, nonmoral, or unmoral is sometimes considered just as reprehensible as being immoral.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

immoral / ɪˈmɒrəl/ adjective

1. transgressing accepted moral rules; corrupt
2. sexually dissolute; profligate or promiscuous
3. unscrupulous or unethical: immoral trading
4. tending to corrupt or resulting from corruption: an immoral film, immoral earnings

imˈmorally adverb