narcolepticadj.n.
/ˌnɑːkə(ʊ)ˈlɛptɪk/, U.S. /ˌnɑrkəˈlɛptɪk/ A. adj.
1. Characteristic of or affected with narcolepsy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > stupor or coma > [adjective] > morbid sleep
soporiferous1583
lethargic1595
lethargical1617
sleepy1623
soporous1684
soporose1710
narcoleptic1904
hypersomnic1929
1904 G. S. Hall Adolescence I. 264 Sometimes a sense of fatigue, lassitude, and sleepiness, rarely narcoleptic, may supervene.
1949 Progress Neurol. & Psychiatry 4 414 Narcoleptic sleep,..major convulsions, or other ‘epileptic’ symptoms.
1972 Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 26 462/1 The narcoleptic sleep attack is more imperative but of shorter duration than diurnal hypersomniac sleep.
2001 Psychiatr. & Clin. Neurosci. 55 243 Narcoleptic canines, like narcoleptic humans, also exhibit jerky, unilateral or bilateral slow leg movements during sleep.
2.
a. Appearing as if affected with narcolepsy; lethargic, somnolent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adjective]
unlustyc1225
sleepyc1384
phlegmatica1400
listlessc1440
owlist1440
unlisty1440
phlegmyc1450
sweyntc1450
supine1554
resty1565
unactive1591
sleepy-headed1600
log-like1602
inertious1611
stupefied?1611
lethargic1612
sedentary1625
torpent1647
torpid1656
torpulent1657
softly1664
inert1774
vegetative1789
spiritless1798
unenergetic1805
sloomy1820
slow-going1825
inenergetic1826
comatose1828
moony1847
mooning1864
torpid-minded1909
narcoleptic1965
vegged1986
1965 E. Latham in R. Connery Teaching Polit. Sci. 149 Svengali-like teachers dominate narcoleptic students.
1982 Washington Post (Nexis) 17 Oct. (Bk. World section) 13 This is not an argument but a tautology—..inflicted upon the increasingly narcoleptic reader with endless permutations of the same distended rhetoric.
1993 Frank 23 Dec. 28/2 Many skaters do not skate to improve their health, but merely for the unrivalled pleasure of evading narcoleptic motorists.
2000 W. Shaw Westsiders 28 His heavy-lidded eyes lend him a narcoleptic air.
b. Tending to send a person to sleep; soporific, boring.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [adjective] > causing or inducing sleep
sleepingc1369
sleepy1398
lullingc1440
somnolentc1475
sleepery1513
sleeprife1513
narcotic1526
opiate1543
breed-sleep1582
somnoriferous1583
drowsy1590
dormitive1593
soporiferous1601
somniferous1602
sleep-bringing1605
dormitary1609
hypnotic1625
dormitory1631
papaverous1646
dormant1654
hypnotical1657
somnifyinga1661
sleepifying1662
slumberous1667
soporific1690
somnific1721
somniculous1820
somnorific1865
soporous1866
drowsing1881
narcoleptic1984
1984 Observer 12 Feb. 9/2 He had prepared a..talk for the election committee on the topic: ‘Economic Man’. A friend..got hold of it in time and managed to turn it into something less narcoleptic.
1993 Big Issue 30 Apr. 22/1 Narcoleptic speeches from Nigel Lawson, Norman Lamont and, of course, the Baroness herself.
B. n.
A person affected with or prone to narcolepsy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > stupor or coma > [noun] > morbid sleep > person
lethargicc1470
letharge1615
lethargy1634
narcoleptic1928
narcolept1957
1928 Brain 51 84 The sleep of the narcoleptic is to be likened in all respects to normal, healthy sleep.
1957 Proc. Mayo Clinic 32 324 A serious problem among the narcoleptics is the tendency to drowse when driving.
1972 Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 26 457/2 Hypersomniacs do not fall asleep while eating, speaking, or walking, as narcoleptics do.
1992 N.Y. Mag. 3 Feb. 68/1 Mike..is a narcoleptic who falls into a trancelike slumber at moments of stress.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1904