decadent

See also: décadent

English

Alternative forms

• décadent

Etymology

From French décadent, a back-formation from décadence (see -ent), from Medieval Latin dēcadentia, from Late Latin dēcadēns, present participle of dēcadō, dēcidō (“sink, fall; perish”), from Latin dē- + cadō (“fall”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛkədənt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

decadent (comparative more decadent, superlative most decadent)

1. Characterized by moral or cultural decline.
   • 1992, Gore Vidal, The Decline and Fall of the American Empire:

     As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.

2. Luxuriously self-indulgent.
   • 2003, Hedonismbot in the Futurama episode "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings"

     Surgery in an opera? How wonderfully decadent! And just as I was beginning to lose interest!

Synonyms

• (luxuriously self-indulgent): sinful (colloquial)

Derived terms

• decadentism
• decadently
• nondecadent
• undecadent

 

Related terms

• decadence

Translations

characterized by moral or cultural decline

• Bulgarian: упадъчен (bg) (upadǎčen)
• Catalan: decadent (ca)
• Czech: dekadentní (cs)
• Finnish: rappeutunut, turmeltunut (fi), dekadentti (fi)
• French: décadent (fr)
• German: dekadent (de)
• Hindi: पतनोन्मुख (hi) (patnonmukh), ह्रासोन्मुख (hrāsonmukh), अपकर्षी (apkarṣī), पतनोमुख (patnomukh)
• Hungarian: dekadens (hu)
• Icelandic: hnignandi, hrörnandi, spilltur, úrkynjaður
• Indonesian: dekaden (id)
• Irish: meatach
• Italian: decadente (it)
• Polish: dekadencki
• Romanian: decadent (ro)
• Russian: упа́дочный (ru) (upádočnyj), упа́дочнический (ru) (upádočničeskij), декаде́нтский (ru) (dekadéntskij)
• Spanish: decadente (es)
• Tagalog: namumulok
• Thai: เสื่อมโทรม (th) (sʉ̀ʉam-soom)

luxuriously self-indulgent

• German: dekadent (de)
• Irish: peacúil
• Korean: 흥청망청 (heungcheongmangcheong)

Noun

decadent (plural decadents)

1. A person affected by moral decay.
   • L. Douglas

     He had the fastidiousness, the preciosity, the love of archaisms, of your true decadent.

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱh₂d- (0 c, 32 e)

Translations

person affected by moral decay

• Bulgarian: декадент m (dekadent)
• French: décadent (fr) m, décadente (fr) f
• Hindi: पतित (hi) (patit)
• Italian: decadentista m
• Russian: декаде́нт (ru) m (dekadént), декаде́нтка (ru) f (dekadéntka)
• Thai: คนเสื่อม (kon-sʉ̀ʉam)

Anagrams

• decanted

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin dēcadentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [də.kəˈðen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [də.kəˈðent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [de.kaˈðent]

Adjective

decadent m or f (masculine and feminine plural decadents)

1. decaying, deteriorating, in decline
2. decadent (characterized by moral or cultural decline)

Related terms

• decadència
• decaure

Further reading

• “decadent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “decadent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “decadent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “decadent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French décadent.

Adjective

decadent m or n (feminine singular decadentă, masculine plural decadenți, feminine and neuter plural decadente)

1. decadent

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	decadent		decadentă		decadenți	decadente
	definite	decadentul		decadenta		decadenții	decadentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	decadent		decadente		decadenți	decadente
	definite	decadentului		decadentei		decadenților	decadentelor

Related terms

• decadență