(adjective) no longer fertile / (adjective) having lost character, vitality, or strength / (adjective) marked by weakness or decadence / (adjective) soft or delicate from or as if from a pampered existence / (adjective) effeminate
a great many educated people accept effete now also as a pejorative synonym for elite or elitist, one with an added suggestion of effeminacy, over-refinement, pretension, and/or decadence
he notes the traditional meaning as "depleted of vitality, washed out, exhausted"