nauseated

adjective

nau·​se·​at·​ed ˈnȯ-zhē-ˌā-təd 

-shē-, 

-zē-, 

-sē-

: affected with nausea or disgust

… faintly nauseated by the long, bumpy ride home.

—Salman Rushdie

Nauseous vs. Nauseated: Usage Guide

Nauseous is most often used to mean "physically affected with nausea," especially in phrases like "feeling nauseous" and "the patient became nauseous," but this use was in the past widely considered incorrect. The recommendation was that nauseous be used only to mean "causing nausea or disgust," as in "a nauseous smell" or "nauseous hypocrisy," and that nauseated be used to describe someone feeling the stomach distress of one affected by nausea. Some people still make this distinction, with medical professionals perhaps making up the greatest portion of them. Meanwhile, the "causing nausea or disgust" meaning of nauseous is losing ground to nauseating, with repulsive smells and repugnant behavior tending to be described as nauseating rather than nauseous.

Word History

First Known Use

1656, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nauseated

• abdicated
• abrogated
• acclimated
• activated
• actuated
• adumbrated
• advocated
• aggravated
• aggregated
• agitated
• allocated
• alternated