nauseous

To be nauseous is to have nausea—to feel sick in your stomach, as if you might vomit. The word nauseated means the same thing.

Nauseous can also mean the same thing as nauseating—causing nausea. However, nauseous is much less commonly used this way (despite the fact that some people insist that it’s the “proper” use of the word).

The word nausea can also be used in a figurative way meaning a feeling of disgust, revulsion, or repulsion, and nauseous can be used to describe things that make people feel this way, meaning about the same thing as disgusting or loathsome. However, the word nauseating is more commonly used in a figurative context, as in Your linguistic pedantry is nauseating. 

Example: If you feel nauseous, try lying down and breathing through your nose.

The first records of the word nauseous come from around 1600. It is thought to derive from the Greek nausíā, meaning “seasickness,” from naûs, meaning “ship” (the same root is the basis of the word nautical). The suffix -ous means “full of” and is used to form adjectives.

People can become nauseous from seasickness and many other conditions that affect the stomach, such as motion sickness, morning sickness, carsickness, anxiety, or from the side effects of medications. People often feel nauseous due to something they ate. When you’re nauseous, the very thought of eating can make you even more nauseous.

What are some other forms related to nauseous?

• nauseously (adverb)
• nauseousness (noun)
• nausea (noun)

What are some synonyms for nauseous?

• sick to one’s stomach
• queasy
• nauseated (feeling nausea)
• nauseating (causing nausea)
• nauseant (causing nausea)
• disgusted
• disgusting
• loathsome

What are some words that share a root or word element with nauseous? 

• nauseate
• nautical

What are some words that often get used in discussing nauseous?

• feel
• sick
• stomach
• vomit
• throw up
• motion sickness
• seasickness
• morning sickness
• carsick
• anxiety
• eat
• food

Nauseous is most commonly used to describe someone who feels sick to their stomach. It is typically used in the phrases feel nauseous or feeling nauseous. 

I’m soooo nauseous today. I want to eat something but honestly feel like if I ingest anything I’ll vomit. So yay. Maybe I won’t be making that queso today.

— ferg (@katieferg) October 25, 2020

I’m never going to even know if I’m pregnant from morning sickness because I’m nauseous every day!!!!!

— c h l o e (@chloegiessy) July 6, 2020

Which of the following words can be used as a synonym of nauseous?

A. nauseated
B. nauseating
C. nauseant
D. all of the above