narcosis

[ nahr-koh-sis ]

noun

1. a state of stupor or drowsiness.
2. a state of stupor or greatly reduced activity produced by a drug. Compare nitrogen narcosis.

narcosis

/ nɑːˈkəʊsɪs /

noun

1. unconsciousness induced by narcotics or general anaesthetics

Word History and Origins

Origin of narcosis¹

1685–95; < New Latin < Greek nárkōsis. See narc-, -osis

Example Sentences

“The freeway experience ... is the only secular communion Los Angeles has.… Actual participation requires total surrender, a concentration so intense as to seem a kind of narcosis, a rapture-of-the-freeway.”

From Los Angeles Times

Part of the reason lies in the challenge, another in how deep dives change the chemistry in the brain, creating nitrogen narcosis or a “rapture of the deep” that freedivers describe in lyrical terms.

From Washington Post

Yet at the same time, the monotonous narcosis of the Trump years has also provoked a vigorous reaction, visible in different parts of society in different ways: #MeToo feminism, Black Lives Matter, the 2018 midterms, the upsurge of left-wing or "socialist" politics catalyzed by the Bernie Sanders campaign, which the Democratic Party has been startled to discover it cannot control or contain.

From Salon

From 40 metres to 60 metres you get nitrogen narcosis and from 80 metres and deeper you get oxygen poisoning.

From The Guardian

I called an emergency vet, convinced he was going to lapse into narcosis.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• coma
• slumber
• trance