1
as in degenerate
having lost forcefulness, courage, or spirit
the soft, effete society that marked the final years of the Roman empire
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in weak
lacking bodily strength
the outdoor adventure program takes effete youths and turns them into hardy campers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in weakened
lacking strength of will or character
the governor is too effete to take on the powerful special interests that really run this state
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4
as in feminine
of or relating to a man who has or displays qualities traditionally considered more suitable for women
wore a slightly more effete style of clothing in those days
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of effete
Once again, there are the effete snobs and the salt-of-the-earth people who tolerate them.
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TIME, 9 Oct. 2023
Garden gazing balls by Sula Bermúdez-Silverman are grasped by the upright claws of an imperial eagle, the spheres filled with homey substances like hair gel and studded with effete fragments of colonial treasure — bits of coral or silver sugar tongs.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023
But with the advent of the Great Depression and World War II, his urbane, effete mannequins fell out of favor.
—Dan Avery, NBC News, 7 June 2023
As the effete mentor to Wayne in the film's first half, Neeson nicely toys with the audience without tipping his hand.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 17 Feb. 2023
See all Example Sentences for effete 
TIME, 9 Oct. 2023
Garden gazing balls by Sula Bermúdez-Silverman are grasped by the upright claws of an imperial eagle, the spheres filled with homey substances like hair gel and studded with effete fragments of colonial treasure — bits of coral or silver sugar tongs.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023
But with the advent of the Great Depression and World War II, his urbane, effete mannequins fell out of favor.
—Dan Avery, NBC News, 7 June 2023
As the effete mentor to Wayne in the film's first half, Neeson nicely toys with the audience without tipping his hand.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 17 Feb. 2023
See all Example Sentences for effete
Recent Examples of Synonyms for effete
Adjective
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Ammon did appear tempted to talk the walk in Portland, to become the Mormon cowboy philosopher king wandering a degenerate realm of an ailing Republic, but by now time was in extremely short supply.Matt Thompson, SPIN, 5 Nov. 2024
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Or have his years in finance scrambled his brain and turned him into a degenerate gambler, both at the office and outside it?Zachary Siegel, The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Other checks on Trump’s policy will also be far weaker.Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2024
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Each endpoint can be assessed to sniff out weak points.PCMAG, PCMAG, 6 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The spoof video that is played on screens at Trump’s rallies alternates between scenes of intense military training, sometimes with drill sergeants yelling at troops, and scenes depicting what are meant to portray LGBTQ members of the military, each displaying exaggerated feminine affects.Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024
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Four years later, when Trump was running against another white man, majorities of Republicans agreed that both society has become too soft and feminine and that society punishes men just for acting like men, tapping into a particular brand of male/masculine grievance.Kelly Dittmar, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Get The Recipe 15 of 25 Butter Pecan Cheesecake Take a break from the usual pecan pie, with this decadent cheesecake topped with a nutty, caramel-like topping.Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 5 Nov. 2024
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Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel When election night calls for a little indulgence, this Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel cocktail delivers a decadent treat.Stephanie Gravalese, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Low wages, high youth unemployment and a feeble social safety net mean China’s household spending is less than 40% of annual economic output, some 20 percentage points below the global average.Reuters, CNN, 11 Oct. 2024
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The economy has been weighed down by the weakness of its industrial sector amid Russia’s shutdown in natural gas supplies after the invasion of Ukraine, as well as feeble Chinese demand and the car industry’s difficulties in pivoting to electric vehicles.Eleanor Pringle, Fortune Europe, 8 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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The decrease is attributed to a reduction in overall volume for OEM customers and a general reduction in demand for orthopedic soft bracing products.Quartz Bot, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024
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Manu San Felix / National Geographic The Solomon Islands have the world’s second-highest coral diversity, with more than 490 species of hard and soft corals.Peter Guo, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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In both sketches, Keaton plays an effeminate man who doesn’t quite understand the assignment.Rosa Escandon, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024
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But worry not: Once it’s done poking fun at an effeminate male stereotype, the script swoops in with a cautious coming-out monologue perfectly tailored to generate a fresh round of headlines celebrating and/or criticizing Disney’s latest LGBTQ milestone.Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2021
Adjective
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In Benediction, Terence Davies had to split Siegfried Sassoon into two (Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi) to create a comparably complex personality, but Scott’s Adam is all the more moving for being less refined, a performance of sustained fragility and unmanly truth.Armond White, National Review, 29 Dec. 2023
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Why is his governess, Mrs. Brock, fired for encouraging Richard’s unmanly interest in poetry and music?Francine Prose, The New York Review of Books, 22 Nov. 2018
Thesaurus Entries Near effete
Cite this Entry
“Effete.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/effete. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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