effete Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay
    decadent.
    • a decadent life of excessive money and no sense of responsibility
    • a group of effete self-professed intellectuals

WordNet

Ef*fete" adjective
Etymology
L. effetus that has brought forth, exhausted; ex + fetus that has brought forth. See Fetus.
Definitions
  1. No longer capable of producing young, as an animal, or fruit, as the earth; hence, worn out with age; exhausted of energy; incapable of efficient action; no longer productive; barren; sterile.
    Effete results from virile efforts. Mrs. Browning
    If they find the old governments effete, worn out, . . . they may seek new ones. Burke.

Webster 1913