ENGLISH
REFERENCE

nauseous

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈnɔʃəs// UK //nˈɔːsɪəs// nau·seous Archaic

adj. feeling like you are about to vomit or be sick. You might feel this way if you eat bad food or travel in a car for too long.

adj. affected with a sensation of sickness in the stomach and an impulse to vomit. While traditionally meaning 'causing nausea', modern usage almost exclusively refers to the state of feeling ill.


SIMPLE

The smell of the old fish made me feel nauseous.

CONTEXTUAL

She began to feel nauseous as the small boat rocked back and forth in the rough waves.

COMPLEX

The patient reported feeling increasingly nauseous following the administration of the new medication, though the sensation usually subsided within an hour.

Synonyms
Origin

From Latin nauseōsus (“causing nausea”), corresponding synchronically to nausea + -ous.

Usage

Often follows linking verbs such as 'feel', 'become', or 'grow'.

Pitfall

The movie was so nauseous.The movie was so nauseating.In careful or formal writing, 'nauseous' describes the person feeling sick, while 'nauseating' describes the thing that causes the feeling.

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