effete

1 having lost forcefulness, courage, or spirit the soft, effete society that marked the final years of the Roman empire Synonyms decadent, decayed, degenerate, overripe, washed-up Related Words effeminate, overrefined, precious; decaying, declining, dying, failing, waning; debilitated, enervate, enervated, enfeebled, feeble, frail, languid, sapped, soft, wasted, weak, weakened, wimpy; dissolute, immoral; debased, debauched, degraded, demoralized, depraved, dissipated, dissolute Antonyms undecadent

2 lacking bodily strength the Western ranch takes effete youths from comfortable suburbs and turns them into rugged wranglers Synonyms asthenic, debilitated, delicate, down-and-out, weak, enervated, enfeebled, faint, feeble, frail, infirm, languid, low, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, slight, soft, softened, tender, unsubstantial, wasted, weakened, wimpish, wimpyRelated Words challenged, disabled, incapacitated, invalid; paralyzed; broken-down, decrepit; impotent, powerless; breakable, flimsy, fragile; dizzy, groggy, rocky, unsteady, woozy; drained, exhausted, flagging, tired, weary, worn-out; damaged, harmed, hurt, impaired, injured, lame, unsound; resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yieldingNear Antonyms able-bodied, athletic, beefy, brawny, fit, husky, muscular, sinewy, strapping, virile; hard, hardy, lusty, red-blooded, robust, sturdy, tough; fortified, hardened, inured, strengthened, toughened; energetic, energized, invigorated, vigorous, vitalized; hale, healthy, sound; capable, competent; convalescing, recovering, recuperatingAntonyms mighty, powerful, rugged, stalwart, stout, strong

3 lacking strength of will or character the governor is too effete to take on the powerful special interests that really run this state Synonyms characterless, weak, frail, invertebrate, limp-wristed, milk-and-water, namby-pamby, nerveless, soft, spineless, weakened, weak-kneed, weakling, wet [British], wimpish, wimpy, wishy-washyRelated Words flabby, flaccid, forceless, ineffective, ineffectual; impotent, impuissant, powerless; emasculated, unnerved; lamblike, meek, pliable, submissive; corrupt, dastardly, unprincipled, unscrupulous, villainous; cowardly, craven, fainthearted, lily-livered, nebbishy, poltroon, pusillanimous, sissy, timid; infirm, irresolute, vacillatingNear Antonyms ethical, good, moral, principled, right, righteous, upright, virtuous; determined, mettlesome, resolute, unrelenting; courageous, stalwart, stoutheartedAntonyms backboned, firm, hard, strong, tough

4 of or relating to a man who has or displays qualities considered more suitable for women people were surprised to learn that the effete man played football Synonyms effeminate, epicene, sissified, sissy, unmanly, womanishRelated Words feminine, girlish, girlie (or girly), womanlike, womanly; old-maidish, overnice, prissy, spinsterish; dandyish, dudish, foppish, sappy; camp, campy; antimachoAntonyms manlike, manly, mannish, masculine, virile