effete

a. 贫瘠的, 枯竭的, 衰微的

名词:effeteness 副词:effetely 

ef.fete

adj.（形容词）
Depleted of vitality, force, or effectiveness; exhausted:
枯竭的：缺乏生气、气力或效率的；精疲力竭的：
例句：
the final, effete period of the baroque style.
巴洛克风格最后的衰竭时期

Marked by self-indulgence, triviality, or decadence:
颓废的：以自我放纵、陈腐浅薄且颓废堕落为特征的：
例句：
an effete group of self-professed intellectuals.
一群自鸣颓废的知识分子

Overrefined; effeminate.
过于娇柔的；女人气的
No longer productive; infertile.
贫瘠的：不能生产的；寸草不生的

来源：
Latin effôtus [worn out, exhausted]
拉丁语 effôtus [用尽，衰竭]
ex- [ex-]
ex- [前缀，表.无.]
fôtus [bearing young, pregnant] * see dhô(i)-
fôtus [幼育学，怀孕] *参见 dhô(i)-

【引伸】
effete.ly
adv.（副词）
effete.ness
n.（名词）
<注释>The fact thateffete has come to mean .effeminate. marks a return to its etymological roots. Effete came into English from the Latin wordeffôtus, made up ofex-, .out,. and the adjective fôtus, .having recently given birth,. which is related to the nounfôtus, .offspring,. a word we have borrowed as well. Latineffôtus was used of plants that had borne fruit or of animals that had borne young, buteffôtus could also mean .worn out with bearing young, exhausted, feeble.. The English wordeffete, whose earliest appearance is recorded in '2, was first used in senses similar or identical to senses of Latineffôtus ; however, in the last two centuries or so the senses .characterized by weakness or decadence. and .overrefined, effeminate,. have appeared.Botheffeminate and effete go back to the same Indo-European root, dhô(i)-, meaning .to suck.. Ineffeminate we see the development from a form of the root meaning literally .she who suckles.; ineffete, the development from a form of the root that refers to the baby who sucks milk from the mother.
事实上，effete 这个词表示.女人气的.意义反而表明其意义更接近于其词根的意义。 Effete 是从拉丁语effetus 传入英语的， 这个拉丁语词是由ex- 表.出.和形容词 fetus 表.刚刚生产.组成的， 该词与我们借用来的名词fetus 表示.后代.有关。 拉丁语effetus 用于指植物刚刚结出果实或动物刚产幼仔， 但effetus 可能也表示.刚出生而精疲力竭、无力、柔弱.。 英语词语effete 第一次记载于'2年， 当时的意义与拉丁语effetus 的意义基本相同或相似， 但从以后近两个世纪以来，表示.柔弱或堕落.和.娇柔或女人气.的意义相继出现。effeminate 和 effete 都源于同一印欧语系的词根 dhe(i-) 意为.吸.。 在effeminate 中，我们看到从词根形式拓展来的意义大体上是.喂奶的女人.； effete 从词根形式发展而来的意义是指从母体身上汲取乳汁的幼儿