Anomie
noun /ˈænəmi/ — A state of social disconnection — the breakdown of shared standards and belonging.
Definition
The social condition in which individual norms, values, and shared expectations have broken down — leaving people without a moral or social framework in which to locate themselves. Coined by sociologist Émile Durkheim.
Beyond the definition
Anomie is not personal failure; it is a social condition that individuals experience as personal. When the rules change faster than people can learn them, when community dissolves faster than it can reform, anomie is what remains: the vertiginous feeling of having no solid ground beneath shared life.
Origin & history
French 'anomie,' from Greek 'anomia' — 'an-' (without) + 'nomos' (law, custom). Introduced to sociology by Émile Durkheim in his 1897 study of suicide rates in modern society.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The speed of technological change had produced a cultural anomie no one had quite planned for.
He felt anomie after the move — the social framework he'd relied on simply wasn't there.
Durkheim argued that anomie, not unhappiness, was behind the rise in modern suicide rates.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Anomie” when the meaning fits your context: The social condition in which individual norms, values, and shared expectations have broken down — leaving people without a moral or social framework in which to locate themselves. Coined by sociologist Émile Durkheim.
Synonyms
social disconnection, normlessness, rootlessness, alienation
Antonyms
community, belonging, social cohesion
Related words
Questions about this word
What does "Anomie" mean?
Anomie is noun meaning: A state of social disconnection — the breakdown of shared standards and belonging.. The social condition in which individual norms, values, and shared expectations have broken down — leaving people without a moral or social framework in which to locate themselves. Coined by sociologist Émile Durkheim.
Where does the word "Anomie" come from?
French 'anomie,' from Greek 'anomia' — 'an-' (without) + 'nomos' (law, custom). Introduced to sociology by Émile Durkheim in his 1897 study of suicide rates in modern society.