effete
lacking in wholesome vigor; degenerate; decadent: an effete, overrefined society.
exhausted of vigor or energy; worn out: an effete political force.
unable to produce; sterile.
Origin of effete
1Other words for effete
2 | enervated, debilitated |
Other words from effete
- ef·fete·ly, adverb
- ef·fete·ness, noun
- non·ef·fete, adjective
- non·ef·fete·ly, adverb
- non·ef·fete·ness, noun
- un·ef·fete, adjective
- un·ef·fete·ness, noun
Words that may be confused with effete
- effeminate, effete , feminine, womanish, womanly
Words Nearby effete
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use effete in a sentence
The Macedonians, on the other hand, regarded their southern neighbors as being effete and soft.
The Mighty Ancient Macedonian Army of Alexander the Great | Dattatreya Mandal | August 4, 2022 | Realm of HistoryThere, a young research student, Helen Lyle, encounters graffiti warning of the Candyman, digs into the lore surrounding him, and discovers a sophisticated, effete serial killer.
How an unsolved murder and a public housing crisis led to Candyman | Aja Romano | August 27, 2021 | VoxTarantino says, “The days are gone” of Diego “pretending to be effete.”
Zorro at 100: Why the original swashbuckler is still the quintessential American action hero | Michael Sragow | January 1, 2021 | Washington PostSome critics have made the same sorts of arguments about the remote and effete president.
Unlike their effete northeastern shadows, country boys rarely fade away.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Rednecks and Their Unjustly Unsung Kin | Allison Glock | August 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The courtiers were an effete and in some cases epicene crew.
It sees test scores as effete and irrelevant, like the older privileges of birth.
We Need More Class Traitors: Solving America’s Meritocracy Problem | Jedediah Purdy | April 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhen I went to basketball camp, the boys from the real West Virginia would make fun of us effete Morgantown kids.
In West Virginia Water, an Environmental Nightmare Borders on Crisis | Michael Tomasky | January 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe taint was too inveterate to be eradicated; the evil was immedicable; Rome was already effete and moribund.
The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry WithrowWould those silly men, those servile votaries of fortune, those effete courtiers, have said this a week ago?
The 'Characters' of Jean de La Bruyre | Jean de La BruyreMany chemical substances can be combined with water to cleanse these effete productions from the skin.
The crocodile of America, superior in every detail to the crocodile of the effete monarchies of the Old World.
The Devil's Dictionary | Ambrose BierceThe Terms had adopted mankind's culture, they had no further need of their effete native customs.
Exploiter's End | James Causey
British Dictionary definitions for effete
/ (ɪˈfiːt) /
weak, ineffectual, or decadent as a result of overrefinement: an effete academic
exhausted of vitality or strength; worn out; spent
(of animals or plants) no longer capable of reproduction
Origin of effete
1Derived forms of effete
- effetely, adverb
- effeteness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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