carsick

American  

[kahr-sik] / ˈkɑrˌsɪk /

adjective

1. ill with carsickness.

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carsick British  

/ ˈkɑːˌsɪk /

adjective

1. nauseated from riding in a car or other vehicle

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Other Word Forms

• carsickness noun

Etymology

Origin of carsick

First recorded in 1905–10; car ¹ + sick ¹

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

Her gray cloth backseat was covered with dog hair and a few remaining telltale stains of the regurgitated chocolate milk of a carsick toddler.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2024

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

About a week later he felt nauseated and carsick.

From Washington Post • May 28, 2022

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

Nathan got carsick while reading the first book of the trilogy that he had checked out.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young