nauseate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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(tr) to arouse feelings of disgust or revulsion in
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to feel or cause to feel sick
Usage
What does nauseate mean? To nauseate means to cause nausea—a feeling of sickness in your stomach, as if you might vomit. The word nauseated is commonly used as an adjective to mean feeling nausea. The adjective nauseous is more commonly used to mean the same thing. The adjective nauseating means causing nausea (nauseous can also be used to mean this, but that’s much less common). The word nausea can also be used in a figurative way meaning a feeling of disgust, revulsion, or repulsion, and nauseate can mean to make someone feel this, meaning the same thing as the verb disgust, as in Their cruelty nauseates me. Much less commonly, nauseate can mean to become nauseous, as in I nauseate whenever I ride a rollercoaster. Example: I’m not sure what nauseated me more—the disgusting food or the server’s disgusting comments.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nauseatesimple
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nauseatessimple
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have nauseatedperfect
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has nauseatedperfect
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are nauseatingprogressive
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am nauseatingprogressive
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is nauseatingprogressive
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have been nauseatingperfect progressive
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has been nauseatingperfect progressive
Past
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nauseatedsimple
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had nauseatedperfect
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was nauseatingprogressive
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were nauseatingprogressive
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had been nauseatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nauseate
First recorded in 1630–40, nauseate is from the Latin word nauseātus (past participle of nauseāre “to be seasick”). See nausea, -ate 1
Explanation
To nauseate one’s friends is to make them disgusted, sick to their stomachs, or ill. Generally this is best achieved by serving foul food or sharing someone’s deepest secrets with a sworn enemy. The first seafaring cultures were most likely Polynesian, but the Romans (who spoke Latin) came up with the word for seasickness that stuck: nausea. When the ocean is too rollicking, it’s likely to nauseate the ship’s passengers. There’s plenty more examples out there that can nauseate even the most hearty among us. Often just the thought of some culinary oddities can do the trick: oyster casserole, tripe, or fried crickets — just to name a few.
Vocabulary lists containing nauseate
Bridge to Terabithia
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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Where the Red Fern Grows
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
