Effeteness — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Related Entry: Effete (adjective)

Effete is a different word from Effeteness. The synonyms below are for effete, not for effeteness.

1. having lost forcefulness, courage, or spirit

   "the soft, effete society that marked the final years of the Roman empire"

   similar: decadent, decayed, degenerate, overripe, washed-up
   related: 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

2. lacking bodily strength

   "the outdoor adventure program takes effete youths and turns them into hardy campers"

   similar: asthenic, debilitated, delicate, down-and-out, enervated, enfeebled, faint, feeble, frail, infirm, languid, low, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, slight, soft, softened, tender, unsubstantial, wasted, weak, weakened, wimpish, wimpy
   related: 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, unsound, resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yielding
   opposite: mighty, powerful, rugged, stalwart, stout, strong
   near: 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, recuperating

3. lacking strength of will or character

   "the governor is too effete to take on the powerful special interests that really run this state"

   similar: characterless, frail, invertebrate, limp-wristed, milk-and-water, namby-pamby, nerveless, soft, spineless, weak, weak-kneed, weakened, weakling, wet (British), wimpish, wimpy, wishy-washy
   related: 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, vacillating
   opposite: backboned, firm, hard, strong, tough
   near: ethical, good, moral, principled, right, righteous, upright, virtuous, determined, mettlesome, resolute, unrelenting, courageous, stalwart, stouthearted

4. of or relating to a man who has or displays qualities traditionally considered more suitable for women

   "wore a slightly more effete style of clothing in those days"

   similar: effeminate, epicene, sissified, sissy, unmanly, womanish
   related: feminine, girlish, girlie, womanlike, womanly, old-maidish, overnice, prissy, spinsterish, dandyish, dudish, foppish, sappy, camp, campy, antimacho
   opposite: manlike, manly, mannish, masculine, virile