anomic
UK/əˈnɒm.ɪk/US/əˈnɑm.ɪk/
anomic adjective: characterized by or pertaining to anomia (the inability to remember names).
Adjective (1)
anomic (comparative more anomic, superlative most anomic)
- Characterized by or pertaining to anomia (the inability to remember names).
- When these patients are asked to say aloud the name of an object in a drawing (like a broom), it is common for them to fall into an anomic state in which they cannot recover the name of the object, although they know perfectly well what object is represented in the drawing.2019, Albert Costa, translated by John W. Schwieter, The Bilingual Brain, Penguin, published 2021, page 35
Adjective (2)
anomic (comparative more anomic, superlative most anomic)
- Socially disorganized, disoriented or alienated.
- Anglo-Indians (Eurasians) ceased to be counted as a separate category although we know from other evidence that many of that community, beleaguered and anomic as they often felt themselves to be, remained in railroad service (Bear, 2007).2012 August 3, John Hurd, Ian J. Kerr, India’s Railway History: A Research Handbook (Handbook of Oriental Studies: Section Two: South Asia; 27), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 22
Forms of anomic
| comparative | more anomic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most anomic |
Origin of anomic
Related to anomia.
From anomie + -ic.
Questions about anomic
- What does anomic mean?
- Anomic means characterized by or pertaining to anomia (the inability to remember names).
- What part of speech is anomic?
- Anomic is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce anomic?
- Anomic is pronounced /əˈnɒm.ɪk/ (UK).
Words near anomic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: anomic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “anomic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/anomic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.