effete

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mostly that has meant pretending to be a Real American by riding horses, going hunting or driving around in a pick-up to prove they aren’t some effete city slicker.

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2025

Marie Antoinette would be executed in October of the same year; French fashion influence was a sign of an effete aristocracy that was potentially losing its grip.

From Slate • Jul. 21, 2025

“I’ll go after him for being ‘this effete knower of arcane knowledge, who knows little tidbits that no one would care about.’

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2023

Years later, when her son came to write “The Time Machine,” his Morlocks dwell in subterranean darkness and feed on the effete Eloi of the surface world.

From Washington Post • Apr. 1, 2020

They were uniformly young: good-looking, effete boys and equally good-looking, loud girls.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart