anomie
noun
an·o·mie ˈa-nə-mē 
variants or less commonly anomy
: social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values
The reforms of a ruined economy, under these conditions, brought about social anomie, desperation and poverty rather than relief and prosperity.
T. Mastnak
T. Mastnak also : personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals
In the face of these prevailing values, many workers experience a kind of anomie. Their jobs become empty, meaningless, and intrinsically unsatisfying. Robert Straus
Robert Straus anomic
ə-ˈnä-mik -ˈnō-
adjective -ˈnō- 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web His tough-yet-sensitive image feels substantive, and not just a kind of bland, Post Malone-like anomie. Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2022 In their parallel stories, the Black intellectual’s crisis of faith meets the guilty anomie of the American expatriate. The New Yorker, 4 July 2022 To have seen so early in his career the anomie at the heart of boredom, stasis, inertia—what a gift that was. Vivian Gornick, The Atlantic, 16 May 2022 This doesn’t accord with the stereotype of the Lost Generation, its members drinking away their anomie in Parisian cafés. Deborah Cohen, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2022 Those two novels plus Hemingway’s memoir of Lost Generation–era Paris, A Moveable Feast, offer a better window into the horror of the Great War and the anomie and decadence of the Twenties than anything in Gatsby. Sarah Schutte, National Review, 6 Sep. 2021 Brian Alexander’s recent account of a hospital in Bryan, a small town in Ohio’s northeast corner, offers a glimpse into how destructive anomie can be. David Introcaso, STAT, 30 Dec. 2021 Crystal meth is in some ways a metaphor for our times—times of anomie and isolation, of paranoia and delusion, of communities coming apart. Sam Quinones, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2021 But when introduced during currency crises in countries that suffer from weak institutions and endemic anomie, such systems have a poor record. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 24 Sep. 2021 See More
Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2022 In their parallel stories, the Black intellectual’s crisis of faith meets the guilty anomie of the American expatriate. The New Yorker, 4 July 2022 To have seen so early in his career the anomie at the heart of boredom, stasis, inertia—what a gift that was. Vivian Gornick, The Atlantic, 16 May 2022 This doesn’t accord with the stereotype of the Lost Generation, its members drinking away their anomie in Parisian cafés. Deborah Cohen, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2022 Those two novels plus Hemingway’s memoir of Lost Generation–era Paris, A Moveable Feast, offer a better window into the horror of the Great War and the anomie and decadence of the Twenties than anything in Gatsby. Sarah Schutte, National Review, 6 Sep. 2021 Brian Alexander’s recent account of a hospital in Bryan, a small town in Ohio’s northeast corner, offers a glimpse into how destructive anomie can be. David Introcaso, STAT, 30 Dec. 2021 Crystal meth is in some ways a metaphor for our times—times of anomie and isolation, of paranoia and delusion, of communities coming apart. Sam Quinones, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2021 But when introduced during currency crises in countries that suffer from weak institutions and endemic anomie, such systems have a poor record. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 24 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
French anomie, from Middle French, from Greek anomia lawlessness, from anomos lawless, from a- + nomos law, from nemein to distribute — more at nimble
First Known Use
1933, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
anomie
noun
an·o·mie
variants also anomy
ˈan-ə-mē
: social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values
also : personal unrest, alienation, and anxiety that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals