How to use decadence in a sentence

11 example sentences · noun

Decadence means a state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay. Example: “It leads too easily to stagnation, and thence to decadence."”

Examples of decadence by meaning

nounA state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay.

It leads too easily to stagnation, and thence to decadence."1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 35

nounThe quality of being luxuriously self-indulgent.

the decadence of a five-star hotel

More sentences with decadence

What has obsessed the Irishman with thanatophilia — this love of death, decadence and decay?1950, Oliver St. John Gogarty, Rolling Down the Lea, page 142. From the entry thanatophilia
It once seemed that the height of plate-lunch decadence was the hyphenated gut bomb called the chicken katsu-curry.2010, Frank Davey, Bardy Google, page 45. From the entry gut bomb
This crisis is not a healthy one, but a sickness unto death, a decadence that threatens to destroy our society.2007, Frederick Turner, Culture of Hope: A New Birth of the Classical Spirit, →ISBN, page 1. From the entry sickness unto death
Not once did she say so much as a word about the decadence of life under the emperors.1977, Daniel Romualdez, China: A Personal Encounter with the People's Republic, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC…. From the entry Su-chou
This wasn’t so problematic at first: exhaustion actually suits Christopher Wheeldon’s “Klavier,” a dark exploration of the moment when opulence overripens to decadence.2007 February 15, Claudia La Rocco, “Dancers, and Their Company, Held Down by Gravity”, in New York Times. From the entry overripen
Things changed when Théophile Gautier made tribadism a fashionable feature of French decadence, and Baudelaire reminded the world that it all started on Lesbos.2004 February 2, Emily Wilson, “Lady of Lesbos”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry tribadism
Even before becoming a father myself, I used to daydream about the pure joy of introducing my progeny to the gooey, chocolaty, graham-crackery decadence of a perfectly crafted s’more.2014, Dave Engledow, “Day 258”, in Confessions of the World’s Best Father, London: Michael Joseph, Penguin Books, →ISBN. From the entry graham-crackery
The popular view is that, although technology and GDP advance, morals and society are treading water or, depending on your choice of newspaper, sinking back into decadence and barbarism.2009, The Economist, The idea of progress: Onwards and upwards. From the entry tread water
If nothing else, I now have the perfect retort to those little league Stalinists who try to insist that homosexuality is bourgeois decadence that doesn't exist under socialism!1983 April 16, John Kyper, “Cuba: A Little Sex, No Drugs, and Lotsa Rock 'n Roll”, in Gay Community News, page 9. From the entry little league

Meaning of decadence

noun A state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay.
noun The quality of being luxuriously self-indulgent.

Full definition of decadence

Questions about decadence in a sentence

How do you use decadence in a sentence?: Decadence is used as a noun. For example: “It leads too easily to stagnation, and thence to decadence."”
What is a short sentence with decadence?: “the decadence of a five-star hotel”
What does decadence mean?: Decadence means a state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay.

Adapted from Wiktionary: decadence (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use decadence in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/decadence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.