Main Entry: nau·seous

Pronunciation: \ˈnȯ-shəs, ˈnȯ-zē-əs\

Function: adjective

Date: 1612

1 : causing nausea or disgust : nauseating
2 : affected with nausea or disgust

— nau·seous·ly adverb

— nau·seous·ness noun

usage Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for nauseated are mistaken. Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous in sense 1 is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseous in sense 2.