nauseate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
nauseates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
nauseated,
past participle, past
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nauseating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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nauseates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
nauseated,
past participle, past
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nauseating
present participle
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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am nauseatingprogressive
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are 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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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.
See Examples For:
But instead of ogling violence to exploit its evil and nauseate the audience, Lynch calls attention to the systems that propagate it.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2025
The sight of Stanton in pinstripes will delight and nauseate many.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2017
As team doctors administered triage, the broadcast danced between vantage points, carefully avoiding any shots that would further nauseate viewers.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2017
The prerelease build of Obduction I tried in the Oculus Rift didn’t nauseate me, although it suffered from the occasional frame rate drop — one of the issues Cyan is still ironing out.
From The Verge ● Sep. 10, 2016
Ifemelu was tired and her back throbbed and the salon had begun to nauseate her, with its stuffy air and rotting ceiling.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
He is, in other words, an almost nauseatingly successful prospect in a sport that more often nauseates once-successful prospects for years before they find their way.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2023
That, obviously, nauseates moderates, who’d prefer something that’s either half of that or lower.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2021
“But its reality has become so overwhelming that it kind of nauseates me,” she said.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 24, 2018
McKay’s book, Du Bois wrote, “for the most part nauseates me, and after the dirtier parts of its filth I feel distinctly like taking a bath.”
From New York Times ● May 3, 2015
“And the priest keeps touching my mouth and it nauseates me,” Jaja said.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
By the end, both of us felt slightly nauseated, though not by the food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
At times, the cousin recalled, he felt dizzy and nauseated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
We can only imagine how nauseated Selzer was when she first saw these numbers, knowing that it would tarnish her reputation.
From Slate ● Dec. 21, 2024
People who were nauseated by the drugs were more likely to report increased food waste.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024
But she didn’t want Aunty Ifeka, or Arize, or even the neighbor to know that the smoke irritated her eyes and throat or that the sight of the cockroach eggs nauseated her.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A cloud of smoke hung over the town of Ille-sur-Tet, where residents described the nauseating smell of burning.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
The floor was so grubby that the thought of sitting anywhere on it was nauseating — and regardless, the lanes were now too dark for reading, lit primarily by bright neon stripes and squiggles.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
It was infested with rats and cockroaches, and smelt "nauseating".
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026
Food and water soon became scarce, thirst and hunger a commonplace, with nauseating odors emanating from the toilets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Under his feet, the ground glistened a nauseating purple, pulsing with webs of veins.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
