Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Feeling sick, nauseous, queasy: Describes a physical sensation of discomfort in the stomach, often preceding vomiting or associated with motion sickness.
   • Feeling restless, agitated, uneasy: Describes a psychological state of anxious excitement, nervous anticipation, or emotional turmoil that is difficult to bear.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Physical sickness):

  • Tôi cảm thấy nôn nao trong bụng sau chuyến đi xe dài. (I felt queasy in my stomach after the long car ride.)
  • Mùi đó khiến cô ấy nôn nao. (That smell made her feel nauseous.)

• Adjective (Emotional agitation):

  • Lòng tôi nôn nao chờ đợi kết quả. (My heart was restless/anxious waiting for the results.)
  • Cô ấy có cảm giác nôn nao khó tả trước ngày cưới. (She had an indescribable feeling of agitation/butterflies before the wedding day.)

Advanced Usage

• "lòng nôn nao": a restless heart, a churning feeling inside (often emotional).

  • Lòng nôn nao, anh ấy không thể tập trung vào việc gì. (With a restless heart, he couldn't concentrate on anything.)

• "bụng nôn nao": a queasy stomach (physical).

  • Cảm giác bụng nôn nao khiến cậu bé không muốn ăn. (The feeling of a queasy stomach made the boy not want to eat.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nôn (v): To vomit, to throw up. (This is the primary verb for the physical act, while "nôn nao" describes the preceding sensation or a metaphorical feeling.)
• Naôn nao (adj, variant): A less common variant with the same meaning.
• Bồn chồn (adj): Restless, fidgety (shares the emotional meaning of anxious agitation but does not imply physical sickness).

Synonyms

• Physical: Buồn nôn (feeling like vomiting), khó chịu trong bụng (stomach discomfort), lợm giọng (to feel like retching).
• Emotional: Bồn chồn (restless), thấp thỏm (on tenterhooks, anxious), không yên (uneasy).

Related Idioms

• "Nôn nao trong lòng": To have a churning/restless feeling inside one's heart (emotional).

  • Nghe tin ấy, lòng tôi nôn nao. (Hearing that news, my heart was in turmoil.)

• "Nôn nao bụng dạ": To have a queasy/uneasy stomach or gut feeling (can be both physical and emotional).

  • Trước mỗi kỳ thi, cô ấy thường nôn nao bụng dạ. (Before every exam, she often feels butterflies in her stomach.)

1. Feel sick
   • Đi biển không quen, thấy người nôn nao
     To feel sick because not used to travelling by sea