nauseated

nauseated — adjective

  • nauseatedpositive
  • more nauseatedcomparative
  • most nauseatedsuperlative

1. feeling that you might vomit, or feeling such strong disgust at something that t

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

feeling that you might vomit, or feeling such strong disgust at something that the reaction is almost physical — for example, on a rough boat, after a strong smell, or when faced with cruel behaviour.

Example

Darius felt nauseated for hours after the long taxi ride along the coast.

feel nauseated (physical, after a motion trigger)

Élise was nauseated by the smell of bleach in the cleaning closet at school.

be nauseated by + smell trigger

Common collocations
  • feel nauseated
  • look nauseated
  • too nauseated to eat
Synonyms
  • queasy

    milder; describes an unsettled stomach without the strong moral-disgust reading

  • sick

    very common everyday word; broader, can also mean ill in general

  • disgusted

    covers the moral side only; doesn't describe a physical feeling of wanting to vomit

Grammar Patterns

feel nauseated

be nauseated by something

Usage Note

Almost always predicative — comes after 'feel', 'be', 'look', or 'seem', not before a noun. Common triggers are introduced with 'by' (smells, motion, food) or 'at' (cruelty, behaviour). Distinguish from 'nauseous': in careful Taiwan ESL teaching, 'nauseated' = the person feels sick, 'nauseating' = the thing causes the sickness.

Common Mistakes

The reheated curry was very nauseated.
The reheated curry was very nauseating.
the food causes the feeling, so use 'nauseating' for the trigger and 'nauseated' for the person.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe an unpleasant inner state, but they differ in strength and in what kind of trigger they fit. 'Sick' is the everyday choice — broad enough to cover anything from a stomach bug to general illness, and the most common in speech. 'Queasy' is milder and almost always physical: a faintly upset stomach from rich food or a swaying boat, not strong enough to suggest vomiting. 'Nauseated' is stronger and more formal; it implies the person is close to actually vomiting, and it stretches to cover a near-physical moral reaction — for example, hearing a cruel remark and feeling almost sick. 'Disgusted' is the moral-only neighbour: it captures the same revulsion at behaviour but never describes a physical feeling. So a learner can think: queasy < sick < nauseated for the body, and disgusted < nauseated for moral reactions.

nauseated ↗queasysick ↗disgusted ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • nauseated patient
  • nauseated passenger

Adverbs

  • slightly nauseated
  • deeply nauseated

Phrases

  • feel nauseated
  • look nauseated
  • too nauseated to eat

Prepositions

  • nauseated by
  • nauseated at

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

The past-participle adjective of the verb 'nauseate', which English formed in the early 1600s from Latin 'nausea' meaning seasickness. The Latin word came from Greek 'nausia', a derivative of 'naus' (ship), so the original picture is the queasy feeling of being at sea. The moral-disgust reading developed later by extension, the physical feeling standing in for being unable to bear something morally.