carsick
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of carsick
Explanation
If you get carsick, you feel nauseated when you're in a moving vehicle. Kids who get carsick often feel worse when they try to read in a car. If you get sick to your stomach whenever you ride in a car, you can say you tend to get carsick. This is just one of many kinds of motion sickness — some people feel ill when they're traveling by airplane, on a train, or on a boat. The word seasick came first, in the 16th century, and carsick was modeled after it, appearing around 1908.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Enrico La Cava, a 35-year-old engineering manager from Paris, always carries bags when traveling because his kids frequently get carsick.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Drinks remembers his sense of disbelief and being a little carsick as they drove the four hours back to Philadelphia, where he would move in with his brother Damon.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 19, 2023
Most people who’ve driven the 1 mention wanting to throw up and the breathtaking beauty and danger in the same sentence, being carsick and awe-struck and scared.
From New York Times ● Oct. 1, 2018
Also the camera work is making me carsick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2014
She had a Bootsie Boots shoe box with Ulysses in it on her lap, and she was feeling carsick even though the car wasn’t moving yet.
From "Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures" by Kate DiCamillo
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
