Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DECADENT
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pronounce
DECADENT:
Say it "DECK uh dunt."
Hear it here.
connect this word to others:
When you think of the word decadent, think of Eddie Izzard shouting "Cake or death?!" Because decadent things are either richly indulgent or declining into death.
We'll explore why in a moment. First, let's notice that if you pluck the prefix off the word decadent, you're left with the rare, lovely, artistic word cadent. Can you recall what it means? Some examples might help: "We fell asleep to cadent rains on the metal roof." "I love the cadence of his voice."
Both cadent and decadent trace back to the Latin cadere, "to fall, to sink, to happen, or to die." So do lots of other English words, including chute, decay, cascade, occasion, accident, incident, co___ide ("to happen at the same time"), and un___cedented ("happening for the very first time, with nothing like it ever happening before").
Could you recall those last two words?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
"Decadent" is an adjective form of "decay," so it has Latin bits that mean "falling down, or falling apart."
Originally, "decadent" only meant "declining, decaying, dying off." We can still use that meaning today, but there's a completely different meaning that we use more often: "rich, sweet, fancy, indulgent, and/or extravagant."
Why? The way I understand it, when the French philosopher Montesquieu (1689-1755) blamed the fall of the Roman Empire on its crumbling morality and its people's willingness to indulge themselves in pleasure and extravagance, some French artists and writers said, "Decadence? You mean pleasure and extravagance? Yes, please." By the 1880s, a movement in art and literature had taken off, known as the Decadent movement. These works were bursting with pleasure, creativity, and excess in general.
With this sense of decadence in mind, advertisers in the late 60s and early 70s started describing desserts as decadent, meaning "very rich, very sweet, very indulgent." That's probably about when the second meaning of "decadent" took over.
So while "decadent" things can still be in decline, most often, today, they're richly indulgent.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "a decadent cheesecake;" "Their society was decadent."
Other forms:
The common ones are "decadence" and "decadently."
There's an alternate noun, "decadency." It's rare.
And there's a cool, rare adjective for things that are becoming decadent: "decadescent." It's formed by adding on the suffix "-esce," which often means "being, or becoming." Notice how it's similar to other adjectives that indicate a process of growth or becoming, like "adolescent" ("becoming an adult"), "recrudescent" ("starting to come back after being gone"), "juvenescent" ("becoming more youthful"), and "obsolescent" ("becoming old or outdated").
how to use it:
Pick this formal, common, emphatic word when you want to emphasize that something is too fancy or too indulgent, whether you approve or disapprove of it.
You might talk about decadent desserts, meals, homes, clothes, neighborhoods, vacations, lifestyles, etc.
And yes, you can still use this word's original meaning—"decaying, in a state of decline"—but hardly anyone does these days.
examples:
"The ads featured striking photos, like that of a decadent pink milkshake topped with candy and a doughnut."
— Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times, 2 July 2017
"All the girls had pocketbook covers made out of the same material as their dresses, so each time they changed their clothes they had a matching pocketbook. This kind of detail impressed me. It suggested a whole life of marvelous, elaborate decadence that attracted me like a magnet."
— Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, 1963
has this page helped you understand "decadent"?
study it:
Explain both meanings of "decadent" without saying "on the decline" or "sumptuous."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) daydreams about decadent (something), like _____ and _____."
Example 1: "He daydreams about decadent cars, like Ferraris and Bugattis."
Example 2: "I start daydreaming about food. Particularly the decadent dishes served in the Capitol. The chicken in creamy orange sauce. The cakes and pudding. Bread with butter. Noodles in green sauce. The lamb and dried plum stew."
— Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, 2008
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Apt Adjective Anagrams!
I'll invent a person's name and a brief description, and you unscramble the letters in their name to form an adjective that aptly describes the person or the person's situation.
For example: Carl Rebe has three advanced degrees. You rearrange the letters in "Carl Rebe" to form the adjective "cerebral," meaning "brainy, smart, or intellectual.” Sentimental movies always bring Martin Devesto to tears? He’s demonstrative. Lilian Tulip is dainty in the extreme? She’s lilliputian. Tia Fauns runs a sweatshop and is filthy rich? Perhaps she made a bargain with the devil, because her lifestyle is Faustian.
To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
Try this last one today: Florinda Amarat has come unstuck in time. She freely visits any moment in the past or the future. She feels no grief, only peace and acceptance. When you ask her to share whatever she’s been smoking, she hands you a Vonnegut novel.
review this word:
A. GREEDY and SORDID.
B. AUSTERE and SPARTAN.
C. GRIM and DISAPPOINTING.
2.
The 1994 film "Decadence" is about a group of _____.
A. rich socialites
B. winsome underdogs
C. cutthroat businesspeople
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
"Decadent" is an adjective form of "decay," so it has Latin bits that mean "falling down, or falling apart."
Part of speech:
Pick this formal, common, emphatic word when you want to emphasize that something is too fancy or too indulgent, whether you approve or disapprove of it.
Explain both meanings of "decadent" without saying "on the decline" or "sumptuous."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) daydreams about decadent (something), like _____ and _____."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |
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