nausea

American  

[naw-zee-uh, -zhuh, -see-uh, -shuh] / ˈnɔ zi ə, -ʒə, -si ə, -ʃə /

noun

1. a feeling of sickness in the stomach, especially when accompanied by a loathing for food and an involuntary impulse to vomit.

2. extreme disgust; loathing; repugnance.

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nausea British  

/ -sɪə, ˈnɔːzɪə /

noun

1. the sensation that precedes vomiting

2. a feeling of disgust or revulsion

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nausea Scientific  

/ nô′zē-ə,-zhə /

1. A symptom characterized by gastrointestinal distress and an urge to vomit.

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Usage

What does nausea mean? Nausea is a feeling of sickness in your stomach, as if you might vomit. People can experience nausea from food that has upset their stomach, from the side effects of medications, or from a number of other conditions that affect the stomach, such as seasickness, motion sickness, morning sickness, carsickness, and anxiety. To have nausea is to feel nauseous or nauseated. To nauseate is to cause nausea. Things that cause nausea can be described as nauseating (or, less commonly, nauseous). The word nausea can also be used in a figurative way meaning a feeling of disgust, revulsion, or repulsion, as in I felt a sense of nausea wash over me when witnessing their cruelty.  Example: If you feel nausea coming on, try lying down and breathing through your nose.

Etymology

Origin of nausea

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin nausea, nausia, from unattested Greek nausíā (Ionic nausíē ) “seasickness,” derivative of naûs “ship”; -ia

Explanation

When you feel like you might throw up, that's nausea. I know you're feeling sea sick, but if our boat sinks, nausea will be the least of your problems. Nausea gets its root from the Greek word for ship, naus, so it might have originally meant sea sickness in particular. Remembering this origin might help you spell nausea correctly too, since it ends with “sea.” But nausea can strike on dry land just as well, from eating the wrong thing, catching the flu, reading on a moving bus...just thinking of it all makes me sick to my stomach.

Example Sentences

In clinical trials, at least 20% of patients experienced nausea, constipation, diarrhea and vomiting, and between 5% and 10% of patients, depending on which dose they were taking, discontinued treatment.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

Some people may experience bloating, nausea or discomfort as a side effect.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

Standing in my kitchen decades later, looking at the text message, the same feeling of nausea washed over me.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026

The most common adverse reactions to retatrutide were nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

I felt this wave of soft nausea pass over me.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• airsickness
• biliousness
• car sickness
• mal de mer
• motion sickness
• nauseousness
• qualms
• queasiness
• regurgitation
• retching
• seasickness
• sickness
• squeamishness
• vomiting