nauseate

[naw-zee-eyt, -zhee-, -see-, -shee-]

verb (used with object)

nauseated, nauseating 

1. to affect with nausea; sicken.

   The overwhelming smell of boiled cabbage nauseated them.

2. to cause to feel extreme disgust.

   His vicious behavior toward the dogs nauseates me.

   Synonyms: revolt
   Antonyms: delight, attract

verb (used without object)

nauseated, nauseating 

1. to become affected with nausea.

nauseate

/ ˈnɔːzɪˌeɪt, -sɪ- /

verb

1. (tr) to arouse feelings of disgust or revulsion in

2. to feel or cause to feel sick

Other Word Forms

• nauseatingly adverb
• nauseation noun
• nauseating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nauseate¹

First recorded in 1630–40, nauseate is from the Latin word nauseātus (past participle of nauseāre “to be seasick”). See nausea, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

And while he boasts of his strong aesthetic sense—trained as a physicist, he left the field in the 1970s “nauseated” by the “hideously ugly” ideas then coming into vogue—his eye is suspect.

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At times, the cousin recalled, he felt dizzy and nauseated.

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To top it all off, its eyes are a nauseating puke-beige color.

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Mr. Foster is nauseatingly vivid in the part, making Jim Martin too chilling to be a mere cliché.

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To conserve fresh water the men were allowed just two showers a week, and their own growing stench added a nauseating layer to the reek of diesel fuel.

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Related Words

• horrify 
• sicken 

When To Use

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.