anomie
/ˈæn.ə.mi/
"anomie" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“anomie” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alienation or social instability caused by erosion of standards and values.
Corpus desk
Index EN-anomie · anomie · English
anomie · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | anomie |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæn.ə.mi/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “anomie” in English
Rare enough to double-check
anomie is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈæn.ə.mi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alienation or social instability caused by erosion of standards and values.".
Zero misspellings are on record for anomie in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French anomie, from Ancient Greek ἀνομία (anomía, “lawlessness”), from ἄνομος (ánomos, “lawless”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + νόμος (nómos, “law”). Popularized by French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917). The correct English form is anomie, spelled A-N-O-M-I-E.
Definition
- 1Alienation or social instability caused by erosion of standards and values.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how anomie appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This is in line with sociologist Emile Durkheim's seminal study Suicide (1897 [1997]), which argued that "anomie", or normlessness, could explain variations in suicide rates across countries and time.
Although the hypotheses on what causes anomie are different and reflect the social conditions of different societies, the concept itself refers to the same idea/phenomenon: a weakening of the guiding power of social norms, a loosened social control.
Etymology
From French anomie, from Ancient Greek ἀνομία (anomía, “lawlessness”), from ἄνομος (ánomos, “lawless”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + νόμος (nómos, “law”). Popularized by French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.