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To be decadent is to be in the process of decay, so a powerful nation may be said to be in a decadent stage if its power is fading. But the word is more often used to speak of moral decay. Ever since the Roman empire, we've tended to link Rome's fall to the moral decay of its ruling class, who indulged in extreme luxuries and unwholesome pleasures while providing the public with cruel spectacles such as the slaughter of the gladiators. But not everyone agrees on what moral decadence looks like (or even how it might have hastened the fall of Rome), though most people think it involves too many sensual pleasures—as, for instance, among the French and English poets and artists of the 1880s and ʼ90s called the Decadents. These days, for some reason, people have decided decadent is the way to describe rich chocolate cakes.
Examples of decadent in a Sentence
Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 20 June 2025
But for every wellness influencer touting the nutritional benefits of whole milk, there are creators leaning into milk’s decadent appeal.
—Ashliene McMenamy, Bon Appetit Magazine, 28 May 2025
John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 20 June 2025
In this view, other European immigrants were unsuitable for civilizing the frontier—Southern Europeans were effete and decadent while Eastern European Jews were hapless in the woods and better-suited to urban, commercial spaces.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 5 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Decadent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decadent. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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