nauseous

[ naw-shuhs, -zee-uhs ]

adjective

1. affected with nausea; nauseated:

   to feel nauseous.

2. causing nausea; sickening; nauseating:

   a nauseous smell.

3. disgusting; loathsome:

   a nauseous display of greed.

   Synonyms: repulsive, despicable, detestable, abhorrent, repellent, nasty, revolting

   Antonyms: delightful

nauseous

/ -sɪ-; ˈnɔːzɪəs /

adjective

1. feeling sick
2. causing nausea
3. distasteful to the mind or senses; repulsive

Confusables Note

The two literal senses of nauseous, “affected with nausea” ( to feel nauseous ) and “causing nausea” ( a nauseous smell ), appear in English at almost the same time in the early 17th century, and both senses are in standard use at the present time. Nauseous is more common than nauseated in the sense “affected with nausea,” despite recent objections by those who imagine the sense to be new. In the sense “causing nausea,” either literally or figuratively, nauseating has become more common than nauseous : a nauseating smell.

Derived Forms

• ˈnauseously, adverb
• ˈnauseousness, noun

Other Words From

• nauseous·ly adverb
• nauseous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of nauseous¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin nauseōsus; nausea, -ous

Example Sentences

Typically, I feel half-nauseous for the first week and this time was no different.

From The Daily Beast

The texture was awkward and as I pulled it back and forth between my teeth, I just began to feel more and more nauseous.

From The Daily Beast

“As a result, doing both exercise and a cleanse can leave you feeling tired, dizzy and nauseous,” she says.

From The Daily Beast

It took me like five or six times to actually watch it, but when I watch it, I still get nauseous.

From The Daily Beast

Heavily pregnant, nauseous, she barely made it to her meeting.

From The Daily Beast

It happened to be a preparation of that nauseous drug familiarly known as "Dover's powder."

From Project Gutenberg

It seemed to me then the most nauseous stuff I had ever swallowed.

From Project Gutenberg

The same honey which is sweet to the sound palate is nauseous to the sick; and so on.

From Project Gutenberg

They had already separated from him, as though shunning a corpse because of its nauseous odour.

From Project Gutenberg

You know how they are always prating about Bible Teaching—the 'simple morality of the Gospel,' and all that nauseous stuff?

From Project Gutenberg