narc

¹

or nark

[ nahrk ]

noun

, Slang.

1. narcotics officer.

verb (used without object)

, Slang.

, narced [nahrkt], narc·ing [nahr, -king].

1. to inform on someone to the police or a narcotics officer for possession, sale, etc., of illicit drugs (usually used with on ):

   It figures he’d narc on me to the cops as soon as he saw my stash.

   Who narced?

2. to inform on someone to an authority (usually used with on ):

   I've narced on drivers I see throwing litter out their windows.

verb phrase

1. Slang. to inform on:

   A few kids were narced out as drug dealers and got expelled from school.

   Won’t the neighbors narc you out to the authorities for keeping chickens?

narc-

²

1. variant of narco- before a vowel:

   narcoma.

narc

/ nɑːk /

noun

1. slang.
   a narcotics agent

Word History and Origins

Origin of narc¹

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70; shortening of narcotic

Example Sentences

He has little chance of being an effective debater; or as Ojeda said, “He’ll get stomped like a Narc at a biker rally.”

From Salon

Reddit’s narcissism forums abound with advice for dealing with narcs, but a lot of it boils down to two strategies: Stay away from the narc if you can; if you can’t, try your best to avoid engaging with the narc.

From Slate

But sometimes getting away is impossible—if you have a narc co-worker, say.

From Slate

The idea here is to make yourself as uninteresting to the narc as a pebble on the sidewalk: Avoid conversations or try to steer them to the blandest subjects; pretend you’ve got something else to do or are engrossed in a book or TV show; generally deny them the chance to dictate your actions.

From Slate

The woman explains that it took going to therapy—for her, not the narc —to understand the complete one-sidedness of the friendship.

From Slate

Related Words

• constable
• detective
• man
• officer
• patrolman
• patrolwoman
• police
• policewoman