narcotize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to subject to or treat with a narcotic; stupefy.
-
to make dull; stupefy; deaden the awareness of.
He had used liquor to narcotize his anxieties.
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of narcotize
First recorded in 1835–45; narcot(ic) + -ize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Actually the soaps do not kill bacteria, they permanently "narcotize" the germs.
From Time Magazine Archive
They fascinate even when they excite, and soothe and narcotize in the communication of their subtle power.
From A Trooper Galahad by King, Charles
The warm air and the glow of the beautiful rooms seemed to narcotize her, and Rose allowed herself to be led away like a sleepy child.
From Rose of Dutcher's Coolly by Garland, Hamlin
You may narcotize us with the sedative of your content.
From The Torch Bearer by Marquis, Reina Melcher
And nevertheless he desired at present to stay in it, even though for a few days, in order that he might gaze longer upon Panna Marynia and, as he called it, "further narcotize himself."
From Whirlpools A Novel of Modern Poland by Sienkiewicz, Henryk
The audience necessary to sustain original and ambitious work is narcotized by algorithms or distracted by doomscrolling.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2023
Alongside the legendary Port Arthur duo UGK, rappers like Z-Ro, Lil’ Keke, Lil’ Troy, Paul Wall, and Lil’ Flip concocted a narcotized bang and sparkle that one can still hear in hip-hop.
From The New Yorker ● May 20, 2019
Sometimes it seems to me that young people are, indeed, entirely too quiet, too narcotized by gadgets, games and irrelevancies to notice the world is going to heck around them.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 14, 2014
We are a lazy and narcotized culture and it is hard to not just go to sleep.
From Salon ● May 10, 2013
Senility and infancy are by nature normally narcotized.
From Origin and Nature of Emotions by Crile, George W. (Washington)
His treatments included electroconvulsive therapy, during which doctors use electric currents to spark a brain seizure, and also narcotizing drugs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2021
That’s where “White Noise,” the theater auteur Daniel Fish’s personal distillation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel, could be seen during the weekend — hypnotizing, narcotizing, infuriating and, on occasion, seriously waking up its audiences.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2019
It’s equally hard, though, to march through an entire regular season without lapsing into narcotizing detail, and this is a danger by which Jackson refuses to be intimidated.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2014
For the NFL, the powerful narcotizing effects of gamification don’t stop there.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2013
The narcotizing spell had fallen suddenly from him again, and life and his future fortunes looked uninterestingly grey.
From Blue Aloes Stories of South Africa by Stockley, Cynthia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
