Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Effete \Ef*fete"\, a. [L. effetus that has brought forth,
   exhausted; ex + fetus that has brought forth. See {Fetus}.]
   No longer capable of producing young, as an animal, or fruit,
   as the earth; hence, worn out with age; exhausted of energy;
   incapable of efficient action; no longer productive; barren;
   sterile.

         Effete results from virile efforts.      --Mrs.
                                                  Browning

         If they find the old governments effete, worn out, . .
         . they may seek new ones.                --Burke.

Source : WordNet®

effete
     adj : marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay; "a
           decadent life of excessive money and no sense of
           responsibility"; "a group of effete self-professed
           intellectuals" [syn: {decadent}]