Question

decadent The French empire may have been at its most decadent just before the French Revolution. ˈdɛkədənt

Accepted Answer

Marked by decay or decline, especially in morals. To be decadent is to be in the process of decay, so a powerful nation may be said to be in a decadent stage if its power is fading. But the word is more often used to speak of moral decay. Ever since the Roman empire, we've tended to link Rome's fall to the moral decay of its ruling class, who indulged in extreme luxuries and unwholesome pleasures while providing the public with cruel spectacles such as the slaughter of the gladiators. But not everyone agrees on what moral decadence looks like (or even how it might have hastened the fall of Rome), though most people think it involves too many sensual pleasures—as, for instance, among the French and English poets and artists of the 1880s and '90s called the Decadents. These days, for some reason, people have decided decadent is the way to describe rich chocolate cakes.

word	decadent
definition	Marked by decay or decline, especially in morals.
eg_sentence	The French empire may have been at its most decadent just before the French Revolution.
explanation	To be decadent is to be in the process of decay, so a powerful nation may be said to be in a decadent stage if its power is fading. But the word is more often used to speak of moral decay. Ever since the Roman empire, we've tended to link Rome's fall to the moral decay of its ruling class, who indulged in extreme luxuries and unwholesome pleasures while providing the public with cruel spectacles such as the slaughter of the gladiators. But not everyone agrees on what moral decadence looks like (or even how it might have hastened the fall of Rome), though most people think it involves too many sensual pleasures—as, for instance, among the French and English poets and artists of the 1880s and '90s called the Decadents. These days, for some reason, people have decided decadent is the way to describe rich chocolate cakes.
IPA	ˈdɛkədənt

Decadent French Moral Decay Fall People Marked Decline