Did you know?
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 ʼ90s called the Decadents. These days, for some reason, people have decided decadent is the way to describe rich chocolate cakes.
Synonyms
Examples of decadent in a Sentence
Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 9 Feb. 2025
Choose from savories like Maine lobster and caviar sandwiches and decadent sweets such as a Sacher torte, all while sipping from exquisite glassware.
—Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 9 Feb. 2025
Nora Colomer, Fox News, 23 Jan. 2025
A little salt balances the sweetness, and chocolate is rich, pleasantly, bitter, sweet and decadent.
—Melissa Gray, Southern Living, 12 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for decadent 
Articles Related to decadent
Dictionary Entries Near decadent
Cite this Entry
“Decadent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decadent. Accessed 14 Feb. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share