Immoralists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who engage in or advocate for conduct deemed unethical or wrong by societal standards
2. People who promote actions or beliefs that contradict widely accepted moral principles
3. Advocates of behavior that is considered contrary to established notions of right and wrong

Etymology: "Immoralist" is a plain formation: "immoral" with the suffix "-ist", which marks a person who holds or practises a particular doctrine or conduct. The adjective "immoral" came into English from Old French and Latin roots meaning, in essence, "not in accordance with custom or manners," since the Latin "mos" (plural "mores") denoted custom and conduct before it came to mean moral goodness. The suffix has a longer pedigree than the word it is attached to. "-ist" descends through Latin "-ista" from Greek "-istēs," an agent suffix used for practitioners of a trade or doctrine, and it passed into English through Old French and Middle English. English speakers have attached it to countless bases, so "immoralist" follows a pattern that was already well established.