Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Narcotic |
NarcoticAdjective1. Of or relating to or designating narcotics; "narcotic addicts"; "narcotic stupor". 2. Inducing stupor or narcosis; "narcotic drugs". 3. Inducing mental lethargy; "a narcotic speech". Noun1. A drug that produces numbness or stupor; often taken for pleasure or to reduce pain; extensive use can lead to addiction. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "narcotic" was first used: sometime around 1385. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Health | 1. pertaining to or producing narcosis. 2. an agent that produces insensibility or stupor, applied especially to the opioids, i.e. to any natural or synthetic drug that has morphine-like actions. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The term narcotic, derived from the Greek word for stupor, originally referred to a variety of substances that induced sleep (such state is narcosis). In a legal context, narcotic refers to opium, opium derivatives, and their semisynthetic or totally synthetic substitutes. Cocaine and coca leaves, which are classified as "narcotics" in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), are technically not narcotics.Narcotics can be administered in a variety of ways. Some are taken orally, transdermally (skin patches) or injected. They are also available in suppositories. As drugs of abuse, they are often smoked, sniffed or self-administered by the more direct routes of subcutaneous ("skin popping") and intravenous ("mainlining") injection.
Drug effects depend heavily on the dose, route of administration, previous exposure to the drug, and the expectation of the user. Aside from their clinical use in the treatment of pain, cough suppression and acute diarrhea, narcotics produce a general sense of well-being by reducing tension, anxiety, and aggression. These effects are helpful in a therapeutic setting but contribute to their abuse.
Narcotic use is associated with a variety of unwanted effects including drowsiness, inability to concentrate, apathy, lessened physical activity, constriction of the pupils, dilation of the subcutaneous blood vessels causing flushing of the face and neck, constipation, nausea and vomiting and, most significantly, respiratory depression. As the dose is increased, the subjective, analgesic, and toxic effects become more pronounced. Except in cases of acute intoxication, there is no loss of motor coordination or slurred speech as occurs with many depressants.
Among the hazards of illicit drug use is the ever-increasing risk of infection, disease and overdose. Medical complications common among narcotic abusers arise primarily from adulterants found in street drugs and in the non-sterile practices of injecting. Skin, lung and brain abscesses, endocarditis, hepatitis and AIDS are commonly found among narcotic abusers. Since there is no simple way to determine the purity of a drug that is sold on the street, the effects of illicit narcotic use are unpredictable and can be fatal.
Most of these hazards are secondary to illegality and impurities, rather than being inherent to the chemicals themselves. This is one of the arguments used for legalization of narcotics: not that heroin isn't harmful, but that addicts would be at less risk if they could go to a pharmacy and get heroin of known purity, with no dangerous contaminants, and clean syringes. The suggestion is to make narcotics prescription-only, in order to discourage casual use and experimentation. During the 1990s, clean syringes became more readily available, despite opponents who feared that this would meant that society "condoned drug use". HIV and hepatitis infection rates dropped among opiate injectors who had access to clean syringes.
With repeated use of narcotics, tolerance and dependence develop. The development of tolerance is characterized by a shortened duration and a decreased intensity of analgesia, euphoria and sedation, which creates the need to administer progressively larger doses to attain the desired effect. Tolerance does not develop uniformly for all actions of these drugs, giving rise to a number of toxic effects. Although the lethal dose is increased significantly in tolerant users, there is always a dose at which death can occur from respiratory depression.
Physical dependence refers to an alteration of normal body functions that necessitates the continued presence of a drug in order to prevent the withdrawal or abstinence syndrome. The intensity and character of the physical symptoms experienced during withdrawal are directly related to the particular drug of abuse, the total daily dose, the interval between doses, the duration of use and the health and personality of the addict. In general, narcotics with shorter durations of action tend to produce shorter, more intense withdrawal symptoms, while drugs tha produce longer narcotic effects have prolonged symptoms that tend to be less severe.
The withdrawal symptoms experienced from heroin- or morphine-like addiction are usually experienced shortly before the time of the next scheduled dose. Early symptoms include watery eyes, runny nose, yawning and sweating. Restlessness, irritability, loss of appetite, tremors and severe sneezing appear as the syndrome progresses. Severe depression and vomiting are not uncommon. The heart rate and blood pressure are elevated. Chills alternating with flushing and excessive sweating are also characteristic symptoms. Pains in the bones and muscles of the back and extremitites occur as do muscle spasms and kicking movements, which may be the source of the expression "kicking the habit." At any point during this process, a suitable narcotic can be administered that will dramatically reverse the withdrawal symptoms. Without intervention, the syndrome will run its course and most of the overt physical symptoms will disappear within 7 to 10 days.
The psychological dependence that is associated with narcotic addiction is complex and protracted. Long after the physical need for the drug has passed, the addict may continue to think and talk about the use of drugs. There is a high probability that relapse will occur after narcotic withdrawal when neither the physical environment nor the behavioral motivators that contributed to the abuse have been altered.
There are two major patterns of narcotic abuse or dependence seen in the United States. One involves individuals whose drug use was initiated within the context of medical treatment who escalate their dose through "doctor shopping" or branch out to illicit drugs. A very small percentage of addicts are in this group.
The other more common pattern of abuse is initiated outside the therapeutic setting with experimental or recreational use of narcotics. The majority of individuals in this category may abuse narcotics sporadically for months or even years. These occasional users are called "chippers." Although they are neither tolerant of nor dependent on narcotics, the social, medical and legal consequences of their behavior is very serious. Some experimental users will escalate their narcotic use and will eventually become dependent, both physically and psychologically. The earlier drug use begins, the more likely it is to progress to abuse and dependence. Heroin use among males in inner cities is generally initiated in adolescence, and dependence develops in about 1 or 2 years.
- See also : Drug, narcoterrorism
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Narcotic."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| NACC | English | Narcotic Addiction Control Commission | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: NarcoticSynonyms: narcotising (adj), narcotizing (adj), soporiferous (adj), soporific (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Insalubrity | Adjective: insalubrious; unhealthy, unwholesome; noxious, noisome; morbific, morbiferous; mephitic, septic, azotic, deleterious; pestilent, pestiferous, pestilential; virulent, venomous, envenomed; poisonous, toxic, toxiferous, teratogenic; narcotic. |
Remedy | Adjective: remedial; restorative; corrective, palliative, healing; sanatory, sanative; prophylactic, preventative, immunizing; salutiferous; (salutary); medical, medicinal; therapeutic, chirurgical, epulotic, paregoric, tonic, corroborant, analeptic, balsamic, anodyne, hypnotic, neurotic, narcotic, sedative, lenitive, demulcent, emollient; depuratory; detersive, detergent; abstersive, disinfectant, febrifugal, alterative; traumatic, vulnerary. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Like a junkie shooting pure quicksilver into his veins, Frankie got turned on by the wildest narcotic known to man: success (The Oscar; writing credit: Harlan Ellison; Clarence Greene) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Narcotic (1934) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | A narcotic quality pervades the warm, fetid air. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Rep. Stephen G. Porter of Pa., U.S. representative to the International Narcotic Conference in Geneva, three-quarter length portrait, standing, facing front, at White House. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | A certain amount of reverie is good, like a narcotic in discreet doses |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | They include codeine and perhaps the most well-known narcotic of all, morphine. (references) | |
Powerful narcotic pain relievers can offer relief but, because they can have serious side effects, doctors often prescribe newer nonaddictive but potent painkillers. (references) | ||
Received approval on November 4, 1998 for management of chronic pain in cancer patients that are experiencing breakthrough pain on their regular narcotic (opioid) therapy. (references) | ||
Economic History | Belize | The U.S. is working closely with the Government of Belize to fight illicit narcotic trafficking. (references) |
Peru | An estimated 200,000 Peruvians are engaged in the production, refining, or distribution of the narcotic. (references) | |
Guyana | In 1993, Guyana ratified the 1988 Vienna Convention on illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and cooperates with U.S. law enforcement agencies on counternarcotics efforts. (references) | |
Trade | Jordan | The government bans the import of plastic waste, the narcotic plant "qat", and diesel passenger cars. (references) |
Switzerland | A transit permit is required only for narcotic drugs, armaments, and nuclear fuels and their residues. (references) | |
Maldives | Specific trade prohibitions are limited to the following few items: firearms, ammunition, narcotic drugs, liquor and pornographic material. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | But we have to go back to the insight of Franklin Roosevelt who, when he spoke of what became the welfare program, want that it must not become a narcotic and a subtle destroyer of the spirit. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Narcotic" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 95.74% of the time. "Narcotic" is used about 47 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 95.74% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Noun (singular) | 4.26% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 47 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "narcotic": commission on Narcotic Drugs ♦ Drug and Narcotic Control ♦ narcotic analgesics ♦ narcotic antagonist ♦ Narcotic Antagonists. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "narcotic": narcotic-laced. | |
Ending with "narcotic": anti-narcotic, non-narcotic. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "narcotic"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | narkotik (dope, drug, junk, opiate, soporific). (various references) | |
Arabic | مخدر (anaesthetic, anaesthetized, anesthetic, anesthetized, benumbed, dope, doped, drug, drugged, narcosis, narcotized, opiate, pain killer, somnolent, soporific, stupefied, stupid, torpid), مدمن مخدرات (addicted, drug addict, hooked, junkie, strung out), ذو علاقة بالمخدرات, المخدرات. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | опиат (dope, opiate), наркотичен (anaesthetic, anesthetic), наркотик (acid, dope, drug, lsd, opiate, pep pill), наркоман (acid head, addict, dope, drug addict, freak, head, junker, junkie, junky). (various references) | |
Chinese | 麻醉劑 , 麻醉 (Anaesthesia, anaesthetise, anaesthetised, Anaesthetize, anaesthetized, anesthesia, anesthetise, anesthetised, anesthetize, anesthetized, Narcotical), 犯' (illegal drug). (various references) | |
Czech | narkotikum (opiate), narkotický, uspávací prostředek, uspávací (somniferous), omamný (heavy, intoxicated, intoxicating, stupefying), droga (dope, drug). (various references) | |
Danish | narkotisk, narkotika (narcotic analgesics, narcotics), narcotika/narkotisk, stoffer (narcotic analgesics, substances), rusgifte (narcotic analgesics), anæstesiologisk. (various references) | |
Dutch | narcotisch, narcoticum (drug), narcotica (narcotic analgesics, narcotics), verdovende middelen (narcotic analgesics), roesmiddelen (inebriants, narcotic analgesics), psycholeptica (narcotic analgesics), hypnotica (hypnotics, narcotic analgesics, sleep-inducing drugs). (various references) | |
Farsi | مسکن (Abode, Calmative, Domicile, Dwelling, Paliative, Roof, Settlement, Stead), مخدر (Opiate), مربوطبه موادمخدره . (various references) | |
Finnish | nukutus-, nukuttava (sleep-inducing, soporific), narkoottinen aine, narkoottinen, narkoosin aiheuttava, huumausaine (clope, drug), huumaus-, huumaava. (various references) | |
French | stupéfiant (narcotic analgesics), narcotique (narcotic analgesics). (various references) | |
German | narkotisch (morphine-like drug, overpowering), Betäubungsmittel (anaesthetic, anesthetic, drug, mickey finn, narcotics), narkotisierend (narcotically, narcotizing). (various references) | |
Greek | ναρκωτικόσ (drug, opiate, soporific, torporific), ναρκωτικός, ναρκωτικό φάρμακο (stupefacient), ναρκωτικό (dope, drug, opiate), ναρκωτικά (drugs, narcotics), ναρκομανήσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | "ר"מ" (anaesthesia, narcosis, narcotization), סם (drug, medicine, poison, toxin), רקוטי. (various references) | |
Hungarian | kábítószer (acid, bang, candy, dope, drug, hop, lsd, narcotic drug), bódító, narkomániás (addicted), narkós (junkie, junky), kábítószer rabja (dope fiend, dope-addict, doper, drug addict), altatószer (dope, hypnotic, opiate, sleeping draught, sleeping-draught, sleeping-pill, soporific). (various references) | |
Indonesian | bahan pembius. (various references) | |
Italian | narcotico (lulling to sleep, opiate), stupefacente (amazing, astonishing, drug, stupefacient, stupefying). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 麻薬 (dope, narcotic drugs, opium). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ねむりぐすり (anaesthetic, sleeping drug, sleeping powder), ますいざい (anesthetic), ますいやく (anesthetic), まやく (dope, narcotic drugs, opium). (various references) | |
Korean | 마취성 (Narcotical). (various references) | |
Manx | druggey cadlee, cadlagheen. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arcoticnay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | narcótico (dope, drug, opiate). (various references) | |
Romanian | narcotic (dope, drug, opiate, sleeping-drag, stupefacient), stupefiant (drug, stupefacient, stupefying), soporific (drowsy, hypnotic, sleep-inducing, soporiferous, soporific). (various references) | |
Russian | наркотик (dope, drug, knock-out drops, opiate, soporific). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | narkotik (drug), narkotičan, uspavljujući (soporific), uspavljujuće sredstvo (hypnotic, soporific), opojno sredstvo (intoxicant), opojan (humming, intoxicating, nappy, opiate). (various references) | |
Spanish | narcótico (dope, drug, opiate). (various references) | |
Swedish | narkotiskt, narkotisk. (various references) | |
Thai | ยาเสพย์ติ" ((ma)hoska), ซึ่งทำให้เสพย์ติ". (various references) | |
Turkish | narkotik, uyuşturucu madde (dope, drug, hype, l.s.d., lsd.), uyuşturucu (anesthetic, anodyne, drug, hop, junk, opiate, somniferous, stuff, stupefacient). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | снотворне (bromide, soporific), снотворний (drowsy, hypnotic, opiate, sleepy, somnifacient, somniferous, soporific, stupefacient), наркотичний засіб, наркотичний (hypnotic, opiate, soporific), наркоман (addict, dope, junkie, mindbender, user). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thuốc ngủ (sleeping-draught), thuốc mê (stupefier). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | narkotikos. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "narcotic": narcotically, narcotics. (additional references) | |
| |
"Narcotic" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: marcovic, naprocin, narcite, Nawrocki, nerotic, nnarcotic, norcotic, sarcoptic, unerotic. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "narcotic" (pronounced nÄrkÄ"tik) |
| 5 | -k Ä" t i k | psychotic. |
| 4 | -Ä" t i k | antibiotic, aquatic, astronautic, chaotic, despotic, erotic, exotic, hypnotic, idiotic, neurotic, patriotic, quixotic, robotic, semiotic, symbiotic, unpatriotic. |
| 3 | -t i k | acetic, acoustic, acrobatic, aerobatic, aesthetic, agnostic, alphabetic, altruistic, amniotic, anachronistic, analytic, anesthetic, antagonistic, Antarctic, antic, anticlimactic, antiseptic, aortic, apathetic, apocalyptic, apologetic, apoplectic, arctic, aristocratic, arithmetic, aromatic, arthritic, artistic, ascetic, asthmatic, asymptomatic, atavistic, atheistic, athletic, attic, authentic, autistic, autocratic, automatic, axiomatic, ballistic, bombastic, bureaucratic, capitalistic, catalytic, cathartic, caustic, characteristic, charismatic, chauvinistic, chiropractic, cinematic, climactic, climatic, coloristic, cosmetic, critic, cryptic, cultic, cystic, democratic, dendritic, deterministic, diabetic, diagnostic, diagrammatic, dialectic, diamagnetic, didactic, dietetic, diplomatic, diuretic, dogmatic, domestic, dramatic, drastic, drumstick, dualistic, dynastic, ecclesiastic, eclectic, ecliptic, ecstatic, elastic, electrolytic, electromagnetic, electrostatic, emblematic, emetic, empathetic, emphatic, energetic, enigmatic, enthusiastic, enzymatic, epigenetic, epileptic, erratic, euphemistic, evangelistic, expressionistic, extragalactic, fanatic, fantastic, fatalistic, ferromagnetic, feudalistic, fiberoptic, frantic, frenetic, futuristic, galactic, genetic, geomagnetic, gigantic, granitic, gymnastic, halophytic, hectic, hedonistic, hemolytic, hepatic, heretic, hermaphroditic, holistic, homeostatic, homiletic, humanistic, hyperkinetic, iconoclastic, idealistic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic, imperialistic, impressionistic, individualistic, inelastic, interscholastic, jingoistic, journalistic, kinesthetic, kinetic, lactic, legalistic, linguistic, logistic, lymphatic, magnetic, majestic, masochistic, materialistic, mathematic, mechanistic, melodramatic, militaristic, monastic, monochromatic, monopolistic, moralistic, mystic, narcissistic, nationalistic, naturalistic, neritic, novelistic, numismatic, oligopolistic, onomastic, operatic, opportunistic, optic, optimistic, orthodontic, pancreatic, pantheistic, paralytic, paramagnetic, parasitic, parasympathetic, parthenogenetic, paternalistic, pathetic, patristic, pectic, pedantic, peptic, peripatetic, pessimistic, phonetic, phosphatic, plastic, pluralistic, pneumatic, poetic, polytheistic, porphyritic, posttraumatic, pragmatic, primitivistic, prismatic, problematic, programmatic, propagandistic, prophetic, prophylactic, prostatic, prosthetic, psychoanalytic, psychosomatic, psychotherapeutic, puristic, realistic, relativistic, rheumatic, ritualistic, romantic, rustic, sadistic, sarcastic, schematic, scholastic, semantic, semiautomatic, sensationalistic, septic, simplistic, skeptic, socialistic, static, statistic, stylistic, surrealistic, sycophantic, sympathetic, symptomatic, synergistic, synthetic, systematic, tactic, technocratic, terroristic, thematic, theocratic, therapeutic, thermoplastic, thrombolytic, transatlantic, traumatic, triptych, unapologetic, unauthentic, uncharacteristic, undemocratic, undiplomatic, unenthusiastic, unrealistic, unsympathetic, voyeuristic. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: cratonic. | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-c-i-n-o-r-t" | |
-1 letter: acronic, acrotic, carotin. | |
-2 letters: action, aortic, arctic, aroint, atonic, cantic, cantor, carton, cation, citron, cocain, contra, cortin, craton, ration. | |
-3 letters: acorn, actin, actor, antic, cacti, cairn, canto, circa, coact, coati, conic, coria, cotan, croci, intro, narco, naric, nitro, noria, octan, ontic, orcin, racon, ratio, riant, taroc, tonic, toric, train, triac, trona. | |
-4 letters: airn, airt. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-c-i-n-o-r-t" | |
+1 letter: accretion, anorectic, narcotics. | |
+2 letters: accoutring, accretions, anchoritic, anorectics, buccinator, cocreating, concertina, contradict, corybantic, inculcator, monocratic, vaccinator. | |
+3 letters: accoutering, achondritic, acrocentric, anacreontic, areocentric, bacteriocin, brecciation, buccinators, carcinomata, cardiotonic, chromatinic, circulation, coarctation, concertinas, conciliator, confiscator, contractile, contracting, contraction, contractive, contradicts, contrivance, coruscating, coruscation, inculcators, narcoleptic, necromantic, neocortical, noncritical, obscurantic, vaccinators. | |
+4 letters: acceleration, accordionist, accretionary, acrocentrics, actinometric, anacreontics, androcentric, bacteriocins, brecciations, cardiotonics, circulations, coacervation, coarctations, communicator, conciliators, conciliatory, conductorial, confiscators, confiscatory, consecrating, consecration, consecrative, contractible, contractions, contradicted, contradictor, contrivances, correctional, coruscations, counterclaim, excruciation, granulocytic, gynecocratic, interoceanic, intervocalic, lycanthropic, narcoleptics, narcotically, nonarchitect, nonpractical, panchromatic, pantisocracy, prostacyclin, recontacting, reoccupation, technocratic, transoceanic, trochanteric, undemocratic. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Abbreviations | 17. Acronyms 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
