You searched for: “effete
effete (adjective), more effete, most effete
1. Regarding someone who is lacking in wholesome vigor; degenerate: The newspaper presented an article about Mr. Smith being an effete snob and very decadent.
2. Concerning an individual who is exhausted of vigor or energy; worn out: After teaching teenagers for 40 years Mr. Hathaway was effete and totally spent.
3. Pertaining to a living being that is unable to produce; sterile: Jim's old feeble cat was effete and unprolific.
4. Marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay: Greg lived a decadent and effete life of excessive spending and no sense of responsibility.
5. Etymology: From Latin effetus (feminine, effeta) "unproductive, worn out (with bearing offspring)"; literally, "that has given birth" from ex- "out" plus fetus, "childbearing, offspring". The sense of "exhausted" is from 1662; that of "morally exhausted" from 1790, led to "decadent" in the nineteenth century.
This entry is located in the following units: ex-, e-, ef- (page 1) feto-, fet-, feti-, foeto-, foet- + (page 1)