effete

• adj. 衰老的；疲惫的；（土地）贫瘠的；（动植物）不育的

ef-, 向外。-fet, 婴儿，词源同fetus, female. 原义为刚生完孩子的，引申义虚弱的，软弱的。

1. marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay;

"a decadent life of excessive money and no sense of responsibility"

"a group of effete self-professed intellectuals"

effete

effete: [17] Latin effētus meant literally ‘that has given birth’. It was a compound adjective, based on the prefix ex- ‘out’ and fētus ‘childbearing, offspring’ (source of English foetus). Its use spread metaphorically first to ‘worn out by giving birth’ and finally to simply ‘exhausted’, the senses in which English originally acquired it. The word’s modern connotations of ‘overrefinement’ and ‘decadence’ did not develop until the 19th century.

effete (adj.)

1620s, "functionless as a result of age or exhaustion," 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 "intellectually or morally exhausted" (1790) led to that of "decadent, effeminate" (by 1850s).

People said the aristocracy was effete.

人们说贵族阶级已是日薄西山了.

辞典例句