decadent
pronunciation
How to pronounce decadent in British English:
UK [ˈdekədənt]
How to pronounce decadent in American English:
US [ˈdɛkədənt, dɪˈkednt]
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- Noun:
- a person who has fallen into a decadent state (morally or artistically)
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- Adjective:
- marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay
Word Origin
- decadent (adj.)
- "in a state of decline or decay (from a former condition of excellence)," 1837, from French décadent, back-formation from décadence (see decadence). In reference to literary (later, other artistic) schools that believed, or affected to believe, they lived in an age of artistic decadence, 1885 in French, 1888 in English. Usually in a bad sense: "Bread, supposedly the staff of life, has become one of our most decadent foods -- doughy, gummy, and without the aroma, flavor, texture, taste and appearance that is typical of good bread." ["College and University Business" 1960] Beckoning sense of "desirable and satisfying to self-indulgence" begins c. 1970 in commercial publications in reference to desserts.
Example
- 1. Her " bath rituals and decadent lifestyle " are credited with inspiring a perfume .
- 2. Pfft - that 's for decadent americans like steve rogers .
- 3. Our civilization is decadent and our language -- so the argument runs -- must inevitably share in the general collapse .
- 4. The hustlers of the new world always found it a decadent trend , bound to lead to no good ( in retrospect , they had a point ) .
- 5. Like all musical movements rooted in a particular period , jungle slipped first into a decadent phase , and then became a nostalgia piece .