nauseate

verb

nau·​se·​ate ˈnȯ-zhē-ˌāt  -shē-  -zē- 

-sē-

nauseated; nauseating

intransitive verb

1

: to become affected with nausea

2

: to feel disgust

transitive verb

: to affect with nausea or disgust

Frequently Asked Questions

Is one nauseous or nauseated?

Some usage guides have held that there should be a strict distinction between nauseous and nauseated, with the first word meaning "causing nausea or disgust" and the second one meaning "affected with nausea." However, nauseous has been in widespread enough use for both of these senses that this distinction is now quite blurred. Nauseous may mean either "causing nausea" or "affected with nausea"; nauseated, on the other hand, is restricted in meaning to "affected with nausea; feeling disgust."

What is the verb for nauseous?

The verb form of nauseous is nauseate, meaning "to affect with nausea or disgust." It comes from the Latin word meaning "seasickness, nausea," which itself may be traced back to the Greek word for "sailor" (nautēs).

Is nausea a noun?

Nausea is a noun, meaning "a stomach distress with distaste for food and an urge to vomit" or "extreme disgust." A number of other nouns are closely related in meaning, including nauseant ("something that causes nausea"), nauseousness ("an instance of nausea"), and nauseatingness ("the quality or state of being nauseating").

Synonyms

• disgust
• gross out
• put off
• repel
• repulse
• revolt
• sicken
• turn off

Examples of nauseate in a Sentence

The smell of gasoline nauseates me.

It nauseated him to see the way the animals were treated.

Recent Examples on the Web

Those facts aren’t nothing, yet there’s also something about rolling up on Broadway right after the reelection of Donald Trump and expecting to play off decades of nauseating American history with some big yass queen energy that feels simplistic at best, condescending at worst. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024

Damien Leone’s ongoing saga about the sadistic murderer Art the Clown continues to defy expectations by raking in huge box-office receipts on small budgets, with much of the success coming from the series’ reputation for nauseating practical effects. —Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 4 Nov. 2024

This is an ooey, gooey, and fresh werewolf flick with a bevy of nauseating practical effects and the sort of winking cinematic homages for which director Joe Dante is best known. —EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024

His death is sad, but his last bit of life was truly nauseating. —Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

nauseate

verb

nau·​se·​ate ˈnȯ-zē-ˌ-āt  -sē-  -zhē- 

-shē-

nauseated; nauseating

: to affect or become affected with nausea or disgust

Medical Definition

nauseate

verb

nau·​se·​ate ˈnȯ-z(h)ē-ˌāt  -s(h)ē- 

nauseated; nauseating

intransitive verb

: to become affected with nausea

transitive verb

: to affect with nausea