Definition of "effete" []

• Depleted of vitality, force, or effectiveness; exhausted: the final, effete period of the baroque style. (adjective)
• Marked by self-indulgence, triviality, or decadence: an effete group of self-professed intellectuals. (adjective)
• Overrefined; effeminate. (adjective)
• No longer productive; infertile. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The anti-intellectualism that is popular in political and social discourse in this country when referring to the "effete European culture" that puts a high premium on learning and our instant gratification mentality that stems from our over-commercialized society discourages and disparages the kind of hard, persistent, and concentrated work that produces good learning, not just test taking."
• "So quipped Gore Vidal, after being told by William F. Buckley, Jr. that if he didn't stop calling the effete reactionary a crypto-Nazi, the "queer" would get socked "in the goddamned face.""
• "Although many karate styles emphasize competition over the so-called effete “dancing” of “traditional” styles that “begin and end with kata,” all karate practitioners decry the sportification suspōtsuka of karate."