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anomy

an·o·mie

or an·o·my (ăn′ə-mē)

1. Social instability caused by erosion of standards and values.

2. Alienation and purposelessness experienced by a person or a class as a result of a lack of standards, values, or ideals: "We must now brace ourselves for disquisitions on peer pressure, adolescent anomie and rage" (Charles Krauthammer).

[French, from Greek anomiā, lawlessness, from anomos, lawless : a-, without; see a-¹ + nomos, law; see nem- in Indo-European roots.]

a·nom′ic (ə-nŏm′ĭk, ə-nō′mĭk) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

anomie, anomy, anomia

a state or condition of individuals or society characterized by an absence or breakdown of social and legal norms and values, as in the case of an uprooted people. — anomic, adj.

See also: Law

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	anomy - personal state of isolation and anxiety resulting from a lack of social control and regulation isolation - a state of separation between persons or groups
	2.	anomy - lack of moral standards in a society immorality - the quality of not being in accord with standards of right or good conduct; "the immorality of basing the defense of the West on the threat of mutual assured destruction"