nausea

noun

nau·​sea ˈnȯ-zē-ə  -sē-ə  ˈnȯ-zhə  -shə 

1

: a stomach distress with distaste for food and an urge to vomit

experienced nausea during the cruise to Bermuda

2

: extreme disgust

looked at the murder scene with growing nausea

nauseant

ˈnȯ-zhē-ənt  -shē-  -zē- 

-sē-

noun or adjective

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

• sickness

Examples of nausea in a Sentence

Some people experience nausea when flying.

A feeling of nausea suddenly came over me.

Recent Examples on the Web

In the first three months of pregnancy, nausea and vomiting are common. —Merve Ceylan, Health, 26 Oct. 2025

While basic first aid can often ease the pain of a bee sting, according to the Mayo Clinic, those who are stung more than a dozen times can experience a more severe reaction, which includes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and lightheadedness. —Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025

Healthy people infected with salmonella may experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. —Eva Wen, jsonline.com, 25 Oct. 2025

But the three tales are arguably too tonally and structurally similar, hitting a familiar note of nausea ad nauseam, and the whole doesn’t really exceed the sum of its parts. —A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin, seasickness, nausea, from Greek nautia, nausia, from nautēs sailor — more at nautical

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing nausea

• anti-nausea

Kids Definition

nausea

noun

nau·​sea ˈnȯ-zē-ə  -sē-ə  ˈnȯ-zhə  -shə 

1

: a disturbed condition of the stomach in which one feels like vomiting

2

: extreme disgust

Etymology

from Latin nausea "seasickness, the stomach upset that causes an urge to vomit," from Greek nausia, nautia (same meaning), literally "ship sickness," from naus "ship" — related to astronaut, nautical, noise see Word History at noise

Word Origin

The ancient Greeks were a seagoing people, so seasickness was not rare for them. Their word for seasickness, nausia or nautia, came from their word for ship, naus. But nautia or nausia also meant the worst symptom of seasickness, the stomach upset and urge to vomit. Nausea, as we call this feeling in English, can be caused by something other than the motion of a ship. The ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans, who spoke Latin, needed only one word for both seasickness and the upset in the stomach. The Romans borrowed the Greek word, spelling it nausea in Latin. English took the word directly from Latin.

Medical Definition

nausea

noun

nau·​sea ˈnȯ-zē-ə  -sē-ə; ˈnȯ-zhə  -shə 

: a stomach distress with distaste for food and an urge to vomit