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Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--effete effete (i-FEET) adjective 1. Worn out; no longer fertile or productive. 2. Weak, ineffectual. 3. Marked by decadence or self-indulgence. 4. Effeminate. [From Latin effetus (worn out from bearing), from ex- + fetus (bearing young).] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. "Many people who have grown up in socially, deeply conservative societies have a very hard time coming to terms with the freedoms available in liberal countries. Indeed, they take this personal liberty as a sign of decadence, and often despise Westerners as effete and irreligious. Unfortunately, they have no idea of the centuries of strife and struggle that have gone into attaining this level of secularism and freedom from the church, society, and the state." Irfan Husain; Existential Dilemma Forced by Clash of Civilisations; Khaleej Times (Dubai, United Arab Emirates); Dec 2, 2004. This week's theme: insults. X-Bonus Loneliness... is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man. -Thomas Wolfe, novelist (1900-1938)

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