narco

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈnɑːkəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnɑɹkoʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)kəʊ

Clipping of narcotics. From narcotic.

narco (countable and uncountable, plural narcos)

1. (uncountable, colloquial) Narcotics.
   • 1971, Robert Deane Pharr, SRO:

     Margo sighed her contentment. ‘Selling narco in Harlem is the life. There's nothing finer.’

   • 2002, Jeanette Windle, The DMZ:

     Colonel Thornton had the deepest admiration for the Colombians at all levels of society who had made a stand against corruption and narco-dealing, often at the cost of their own lives.

2. (crime, countable) A Latin American drug baron, usually from Colombia or Mexico.
   • 2010 October 16, “Under the volcano”, in The Economist‎^[1]:

     The conflict has become a test of endurance for both the government and the narcos.

   • 2025 September 26, Josefina Salomón, “Drug traffickers livestream torture and killing of young Argentinian women”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     “When narcos use this level of cruelty […] it means that something is changing and that criminal leaders are trying to show off their power, which is very worrying,“ said Germán de los Santos, an investigative journalist who covers organized crime.

3. (law enforcement, countable) Acronym of narcotics control officer (“a police officer specializing in drug crimes”).

   Synonym: narc

• (narcotics agent): knocko

Clipping of narcoleptic.

narco (plural narcos)

1. (pathology) Someone suffering from narcolepsy.
   • 1998 January 6, “Not many postings?”, in alt.support.narcolepsy‎^[3] (Usenet):

     I too am a narco. Have been for about 10 years.

   • 1999 February 1, Sean Flynn, “Life's dilemmas - sometimes, they ARE a bitch..”, in rec.music.hip-hop‎^[4] (Usenet):

     Besides, staying awake on your first day at a new job is definitely NOT a problem (unless you're a narco or something...).

   • 2007, Karen Russell, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves‎^[5], →ISBN, page 62:

     Apneics, Others, and Narcos all gossip merrily on the walk back to our cabins.

• Carno, Coran, Corna, acorn, acron, caron, coran, racon

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɾko/ [ˈnaɾ.ko]
• Rhymes: -aɾko
• Syllabification: nar‧co

Short for narcotraficante (“drug trafficker”).

narco m (plural narcos, feminine narca, feminine plural narcas)

1. drug trafficker, drug lord

Short for narcotráfico (“drug trafficking”).

narco m (uncountable)

1. (colloquial) drug trafficking

   la guerra contra el narco

   the war against drug trafficking

• narcomayoreo
• narcomenudeo

• “narco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024