narcotize

American  

[nahr-kuh-tahyz] / ˈnɑr kəˌtaɪz /

especially British, narcotise

verb (used with object)

narcotized, narcotizing

1. to subject to or treat with a narcotic; stupefy.

2. to make dull; stupefy; deaden the awareness of.

   He had used liquor to narcotize his anxieties.

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verb (used without object)

narcotized, narcotizing

1. to act as a narcotic.

   a remedy that does not heal but merely narcotizes.

narcotize British  

/ ˈnɑːkəˌtaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to place under the influence of a narcotic drug

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Other Word Forms

• narcotization noun

Etymology

Origin of narcotize

First recorded in 1835–45; narcot(ic) + -ize

Example Sentences

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.

From Los Angeles Times

The audience necessary to sustain original and ambitious work is narcotized by algorithms or distracted by doomscrolling.

From New York Times

To borrow a word, it narcotizes people in search of real spiritual wisdom.

From Washington Post

As Anna watches Australia burn from the narcotizing screen of her phone, her mother vanishes into hallucinations of one-eyed CIA agents and “animals turning into birds and then into plants.”

From Washington Post

His treatments included electroconvulsive therapy, during which doctors use electric currents to spark a brain seizure, and also narcotizing drugs.

From Los Angeles Times