decadent.

1. Regarded as declining through excessive indulgence, weakened standards, or loss of vitality.

2. Luxuriously indulgent in a way that feels extravagant.

3. Relating to an artistic movement emphasizing artifice, refined sensation, and resistance to conventional moral or naturalistic standards.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• decadent court
• decadent society

On the page

The decadent court spent what the farms could no longer produce.

He described the society as decadent, though its younger artists disagreed.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more decadent; superlative most decadent where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.