1. the state or process of declining in quality, strength, or moral standards; decay or deterioration
Usage: often used to describe cultural, social, or artistic decline; formal or literary register

Examples

• The historian attributed the empire's decadency to corruption and loss of civic virtue.
• Some critics saw the late period of the movement as marked by artistic decadency.
• The decadency of the once-great city was evident in its crumbling infrastructure.
• Philosophers debated whether modern society showed signs of moral decadency.
• The novel explores themes of cultural decadency in a fading civilization.
• Economic decadency followed years of poor governance and mismanagement.