decadence

/ˈdɛkəd(ə)ns/

/ˈdɛkədɪns/

Other forms: decadences

Whether in reference to chocolate cake for breakfast or wild all-night parties, decadence means extravagance, luxury, and self-indulgence with a sense of moral decline.

The Latin root of decadence means "to fall down," and this may help you understand the full sense of the word. Decadence is not simply a synonym for excess; it also suggests that one's morals have gone down. The word is usually negative but not always. When hostile critics called a group of French writers and artists in the late 1800s decadents, these poets and painters embraced the label. When a pastry chef calls her creation Chocolate Decadence, she is promoting a mildly guilty pleasure, not announcing the end of Western civilization.

Definitions of decadence

1. noun

   the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities
   synonyms: decadency, degeneracy, degeneration

   type of:

   abasement, abjection, degradation

   a low or downcast state
2. noun

   excess in action and immoderate indulgence of bodily appetites, especially in passion or indulgence
   synonyms: intemperance, intemperateness, self-indulgence

   types:

   fling, spree

   a brief indulgence of your impulses

   dissipation, dissolution, licentiousness, looseness, profligacy

   dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure

   jag

   a bout of drinking or drug taking

   spending spree

   a brief period of extravagant spending

   type of:

   humoring, indulgence, indulging, pampering

   the act of indulging or gratifying a desire