Robert Christgau Word of the Day

effete adj.

1. Depleted of vitality, force, or effectiveness; exhausted: the final, effete period of the baroque style.
   
2. Marked by self-indulgence, triviality, or decadence: an effete group of self-professed intellectuals.
   
3. Overrefined; effeminate.
   
4. No longer productive; infertile. (dictionary.reference.com)
   

Lou Reed Transformer [RCA Victor, 1972]

All that's left of this great singer and songwriter is his sly intelligence, and sometimes I'm not so sure about that. Whether this is scenemaking music or anti-scenemaking music doesn't matter--it's effete, ingrown, stripped to inessentials. First line of strongest song: "Vicious, you hit me with a flower." B- (www.robertchristgau.com)