effete

[ih-feet]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR effete ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

Nearby words

Origin of effete

1615–25; < Latin effēta exhausted from bearing, equivalent to ef- ef- + fēta having brought forth, feminine past participle of lost v.; see fetus

SYNONYMS FOR effete

2. enervated, debilitated.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR effete ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

ef·fete·ly, adverbef·fete·ness, nounnon·ef·fete, adjectivenon·ef·fete·ly, adverb

non·ef·fete·ness, nounun·ef·fete, adjectiveun·ef·fete·ness, noun

Can be confusedeffeminate effete feminine womanish womanly (see synonym study at womanly)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for effete

Some critics have made the same sorts of arguments about the remote and effete president.
The McConnell Friend Obama Just Hired|Jonathan Miller|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
The courtiers were an effete and in some cases epicene crew.
Queen Victoria’s Secret Scottish Sex Castle|Clive Irving|August 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

When 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|DAILY BEAST
The lace work of 15th century Gothic is not a lie, it is an effete form.
Belcaro|Vernon Lee
Effete and powerless, attacked on all sides, the old rulers are soon swept away by the breath of insurrection.
The Conquest of Bread|Peter Kropotkin
If we don't like it, we can get on the steamer and go abroad, where we may visit the effete monarchies and have a high old time.
Comic History of the United States|Bill Nye
There is no doubt of their power to promote evacuations of effete accumulations from the kidneys, skin and bowels.
Saratoga and How to See It|R. F. Dearborn
These are operas which will keep Italian opera alive, if that effete institution can be preserved by mortal means.
Verdi: Man and Musician|Frederick James Crowest

British Dictionary definitions for effete

effete

adjective

weak, ineffectual, or decadent as a result of overrefinementan effete academic

exhausted of vitality or strength; worn out; spent

(of animals or plants) no longer capable of reproduction

Derived Formseffetely, adverbeffeteness, noun

Word Origin for effete

C17: from Latin effētus having produced young, hence, exhausted by bearing, from fētus having brought forth; see fetus

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

Word Origin and History for effete

effete

adj.

1620s, from Latin effetus (usually in fem. effeta) "exhausted, unproductive, worn out (with bearing offspring), past bearing," literally "that has given birth," from a lost verb, *efferi, from ex- "out" (see ex-) + fetus "childbearing, offspring" (see fetus). Figurative use is earliest in English; literal use is rare. Sense of "exhausted" is 1660s; that of "intellectually or morally exhausted" (1790) led to "decadent" (19c.).

effete

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of effete

Examples from the Web for effete

effete

adjective

Word Origin for effete

effete