1. A descriptive term for an anxious awareness that the prevailing beliefs of society have little or no personal relevance to one's living existence or condition: Hank seemed to have an anomic view of society, that none of its standards or values made any difference in his life.
2. Characteristic of a condition of society characterized by the relative absence of humane behaviors or moral standards: After the revolution, the country was going through an anomic phase when the prevailing attitude was one of immorality and lawlessness.

The inability to name objects or to recognize written or spoken names of objects: Because of his stroke, the patient suffered anomic aphasia and was unable to recognize the printed or spoken words for names of people, places, or things.