Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Feeling sick to one's stomach; experiencing nausea: The primary meaning describes the physical sensation of feeling as if one might vomit.
   • Causing nausea; sickening: Describes something that induces a feeling of nausea or disgust in others, often through smell, taste, or appearance.

Usage and Examples

• Describing a physical feeling:

  • The rocking of the boat made me feel nauseous. (I felt sick to my stomach because of the boat's motion.)
  • She felt nauseous after the chemotherapy treatment. (She experienced nausea as a side effect.)

• Describing something that causes nausea:

  • The nauseous smell from the garbage can filled the kitchen. (The smell from the garbage was sickening.)
  • He described the crime scene in nauseous detail. (He described it in a way that was sickening or revolting.)

Advanced Usage and Notes

• Common Confusion: In formal and medical usage, "nauseated" is often preferred to mean "feeling sick," while "nauseous" traditionally means "causing sickness." However, in everyday modern English, using "nauseous" to mean "feeling sick" is very common and widely accepted.
  • Traditional/Formal: "The smell was nauseous (caused nausea). I felt nauseated (experienced nausea)."
  • Common Modern Usage: "The smell made me nauseous." (Here, "nauseous" means "I felt sick.")

Variants and Related Words

• Nauseate (verb): To cause to feel nausea or disgust.
  • The graphic images nauseated the audience.
• Nausea (noun): The feeling of sickness with an inclination to vomit.
  • A wave of nausea overcame her.
• Nauseating (adjective): Causing nausea or disgust; synonymous with the second meaning of "nauseous."
  • The nauseating hypocrisy of the politician was evident.

Synonyms

• For feeling sick: Queasy, sick, sickened, nauseated.
• For causing sickness: Sickening, revolting, disgusting, stomach-turning, noxious.

Idioms and Common Phrases

• (To be) sick and tired of something: While not containing "nauseous," this idiom expresses a strong feeling of disgust or annoyance, similar to the figurative use of being "sick" of something.
  • I'm sick and tired of your excuses.

Adjective

1. feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit
2. causing or able to cause nausea
   • a nauseating smell
   • nauseous offal
   • a sickening stench