Definition of Effete

effete (adjective) - no longer capable of producing young, as an animal, or fruit, as the earth; hence, worn out with age; exhausted of energy; incapable of efficient action; no longer productive; barren; sterile

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How can effete be used in a sentence?

  1. People tend to think of poems as pretty but effete.

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  2. By the way, who else but a snob uses the word "effete"?

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  3. "effete" appearance, his absolutely gentlemanlike type, couldn't be?

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  4. No more effete "Lt. Uhura" museum pieces or chronic ear infections for me!

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  5. It would be instructive and amusing if the effete David Cameron were to adopt the same position.

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  6. He says I'm effete, only he thinks "effete" means the same thing as "feminine" but without brains.

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  7. We must presume Tinsley means these "effete elitists" were the liberals of the era, as the words "effete" and

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  8. I'm a democrat that will vote for McCain if the Dems are moronic enough to select this 'effete' for it's party.

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  9. Even Governor La Fayette, traitorous effete Feuillant dog that he was, seemed enthusiastic about the battle ahead.

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  10. Probably everyone who reads my blog subscribes to The New Yorker since I'm that kind of effete intellectual liberal.

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  11. The big loser from the first prime ministerial debate was David Cameron, who came across as bland and a little effete.

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  12. Maria was introducing another effete, all gush, all cropped copper hair, all fuchsia blouse and Prussian blue culottes.

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  13. "worn out," but today "effete" is more likely to suggest overrefinement, weakness of character, snobbery, and effeminacy.

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  14. He is the poster boy for an effete, obsolete, undergraduate, Meccano-set humour that can be snapped together in short order.

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  15. By contrast, Frank Stella's "Gran Cairo" (1962) has neither the effete sensibility of Louis nor the impish fun of Lichtenstein.

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  16. An idea for a New Yorker cartoon: It's Christmas vacation, and an effete pair are out to dinner, stirring their martinis with asparagus stalks.

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  17. Once again, the will of the people is overridden, and Mr.O. chose not to include the parts that would have made his argument rather "effete". by

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  18. At dinner, my date showed me her New Yorker cartoon contest entry: Her effete punch line was that the anagram of "a pineapple" is "an apple pie."

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  19. I tend to be suspicious of novels which are all character; they can all too easily turn into the kind of effete literary fiction in which nothing happens.

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  20. It does boast some pointed satire in the wooing of moneybags Portia by her effete suitors, required to solve the riddle of the gold, silver and lead chests.

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  21. Suddenly, they found themselves in a room where reading wasn't mocked, where being creative, outlandish, even effete didn't risk a punch from a recess tough.

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  22. It is to paint Kagan, her president, and their party under the confirmation-battle klieg lights as effete liberal elitists, to fire up the conservative base, and to win over independents.

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  23. 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."

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  24. In the next passage, Sri Aurobindo counters the criticism that the best India has to offer is in the more "effete" realm of literature, art and philosophy, but nothing of any practical consequence.

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  25. The normally effete Coward is appropriately "stiff upper lip" as Kinross, and a young Mills stands out in a first rate ensemble cast which also includes Bernard Miles and Celia Johnson as Coward's wife.

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  26. But Russians have similar traits as Iranians : Russians like poisoning a crime known as an effete crime practiced most often by women and Iranians talk tough while trying to get their dirty deeds done by others.

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  27. The Bond Street salons and swarms of effete Frog hairdressers kept that corn-gold hair as lustrous as ever, her milky-pink complexion bloomed like a country girl's, and if she'd added a stone to her figure it was all to the good and well-placed.

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  28. Plus, anytime GMC, Ford, or Chrysler comes out with something to compete against the Japanese cars, all the effete snobs have to voice their 'ho-hums' about it, even it GMC, Ford, or Chrysler finally has something equal to or better than the Japanese brands.

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  29. Calling her a "scrappy blue-collar mama" in contrast to a more "effete" Obama, Dowd writes that "one of the most valuable lessons the gritty Hillary can teach the languid Obama -- and the timid Democrats -- is that the whole point of a presidential race is to win.

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  30. Thus, the typhoid fever bacillus thrives in a certain kind of effete matter which accumulates in the intestines; the pneumonia bacilli flourish best in the catarrhal secretions of the lungs, and meningitis bacilli in the diseased meninges of the brain and spinal cord.

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  31. There won't be a backlash strategy, she won't call the Alaska Legislature "effete" or "East Coast liberals," but she will certainly mourn the "witch hunt" that intrudes on her private life (all the while making sure everyone sees the results of her private life, which she'll use as a human shield).

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  32. Anderson developed a mike filter that converted her voice into a male range as early as the 1970s; here, Bergamot appeared as a fully developed character of his own, slightly more effete than Anderson, with a different set of facial expressions, and an even bleaker though also more colorful view of a soured country.

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  33. In the aftermath of this April's revolution in Bishkek, which culminated with the deposing of the effete presidency of Kurmanbek Bakiev on April 15th and his subsequent exile in Belarus, the State Department under Barack Obama was far from vocal, only seemingly concerned about American basing rights at Manas airfield.

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  34. Is it that they shall themselves become tyrants over the very men who have given them shelter, and that a state of terrorism and lawlessness should be established under the very shadow of the sacred folds of the starry Flag of Freedom which would raise horror in our minds if we read of it as existing under the most effete monarchy of the East?

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  35. It was intended to label them -- in the words of the late Republican Vice-President Spiro Agnew -- as "effete, nattering nabobs of negativism" -- part of the "chablis and brie" set that is completely disconnected from the lives of ordinary Americans who drink beer, work hard and get their hands dirty producing the products and the food we need in our everyday lives.

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  36. 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.

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  37. The words: glop; rash; Lady Gaga; swerve; tapas; BP; ginormous; museum; dental; frisky; wireless; infomercial; asparagus; tuba; goalie; hyperventilate; pineapple; squishy; projectile; dinner; tea bag; harpsichord; Cuisinart; New Yorker cartoon; Metro; muskrat; vacation; Lindsay; strewn; ziti; zit; Secretariat; Tupperware; apple; escalator; trophy; Slurpee; effete; acid-free; parental control; venison; fastball; martini; status; otter; bicuspid; Fenty; anagram; chronic; Santa.

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Tips for Using effete in a Sentence

You may have an easier time writing sentences with effete if you know what words are likely to come before or after it, or simply what words are often found in the same sentence.

Frequent Predecessors

Words that often come before effete in sentences. For example: "the effete" or "an effete"

  • the
  • an
  • and
  • of
  • as
  • become
  • is
  • or
  • more
  • this

Frequent Successors

Words that often come after effete in sentences. For example: "effete and" or "effete ."

  • and
  • .
  • matter
  • matters
  • east
  • products
  • or
  • civilization
  • material
  • materials

Associated Words

Words that aren't necessarily predecessors or successors, but are often found in the same sentence.

  • impudent
  • figures
  • henry
  • rock
  • rather

Alternate Definitions

    A sentence using effete