narcotize

verb

nar·​co·​tize ˈnär-kə-ˌtīz 

narcotized; narcotizing

transitive verb

1

a

: to treat with or subject to a narcotic

b

: to put into narcosis

2

: to soothe to unconsciousness or unawareness

intransitive verb

: to act as a narcotic

Examples of narcotize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Most are unable to rise above the stylistic miasma of the production — Whitehead sounds narcotized even when Pip isn’t on drugs — or the entirely new words they’ve been asked to say. —Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2023

The smartphone, for all its wonder and utility, has also proved to be a narcotizing agent. —Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2019

What would happen if Parker really turned on, tuned in and dropped out, and took his show to mind-expanding — not just narcotizing — heights? —Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2019

Auto-Tune; hip-hop; and the nasal, narcotized, dispirited voices of SoundCloud rap compete with, and often out-stream, the kind of soulful vocal storytelling that would have had Ms. Aguilera flourishing in previous eras. —Jon Pareles, New York Times, 13 June 2018

He is perpetually narcotized, endlessly plaintive, borderline disoriented. —New York Times, 9 May 2018

Instead, waging a battle against evil has a narcotizing effect. —James Hamblin, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2017

This deeply autobiographical novel recounts growing up gay in rural France, where the men and women scuff and strain against economic morbidity, class invisibility and narcotizing boredom. —New York Times, 25 May 2017

Both are set in decaying manufacturing towns — places where the men and women scuff and strain against economic morbidity, class invisibility and narcotizing boredom. —Jennifer Senior, New York Times, 17 May 2017

Word History

Etymology

narcot(ic) entry 1 + -ize

First Known Use

1526, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Rhymes for narcotize

• advertise
• aggrandize
• agonize
• alibis
• alkalies
• alkalis
• amortize
• amplifies
• analyse
• analyze
• anywise
• authorize

Medical Definition

narcotize

verb

nar·​co·​tize

variants also British narcotise

ˈnär-kə-ˌtīz 

narcotized also British narcotised; narcotizing also British narcotising

transitive verb

1

: to treat with or subject to a narcotic

2

: to put into a state of narcosis

intransitive verb

: to act as a narcotizing agent