narcopolitics · noun — the use of politics to influence or sponsor the illegal drug trade. It carries an Arena rating of 1144, earned across 202 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, narcopolitics ranks #247 of 17,176 for Most Incisive Words, #1,341 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #3,001 of 17,195 for Most Exacting Words, #4,211 of 17,130 for Most Ponderous Words.
Why “narcopolitics” is a great word
NARCOPOLITICS — [Noun] The use of political power and institutions to influence, control, or sponsor the illegal drug trade. From the combining form narco- (from Greek narkē, meaning "numbness" or "stupor," and by extension, narcotic drugs) + politics. First attested in the 1970s, becoming prominent in the 1980s in reference to Latin American politics. Unlike "narco-state," which describes a government comprehensively captured by cartels, or "drug policy," which denotes official, public regulation, narcopolitics is the shadow symbiosis of power and contraband. It is the mayor’s police escorting a shipment, the legislative vote killed by a whispered threat, and the glossy campaign funded by laundered profits—the formal machinery of governance lubricated by a corrosive, parallel economy, where the state's authority is not subverted but weaponized.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From narco- + politics. The word is first attested in the 1970s, but only became prominent to refer to politics in Latin American countries in the 1980s.
noun
- The use of politics to influence or sponsor the illegal drug trade.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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