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

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 Washington Post

It’s time to forage for consumer goods, but it’s also nontime, no time at all, a faint narcosis that removes you from the bindings of daily existence.

From New York Times

Related Words

• coma
• slumber
• trance