Deliquescence

A melted or melting, softened or softening state.

Accord­ing to Slate, ear­ly twen­ti­eth-cen­tu­ry fash­ion design­er Paul Poiret wrote, «The taste for the refine­ments of the eigh­teenth cen­tu­ry had led all women into a sort of del­i­ques­cence.» Even hav­ing looked up the word, I have no idea what he was talk­ing about. (arti­cle orig­i­nal­ly seen at moleskinerie.com)