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 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").

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 Symptoms of altitude sickness are usually mild and consist of headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and insomnia. Brian Strickland, Discover Magazine, 9 Mar. 2024 Her son then gave the drink to another student during a gym class, which resulted in the classmate being hospitalized after developing nausea and a headache. Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024 Despite several pauses due to nausea, the DJ/producer/vocalist managed to hold fast throughout the set. Rose Eden, SPIN, 6 Mar. 2024 Simon added that krill oil can sometimes cause gastrointestinal symptoms, such as bloating, nausea, diarrhea, gas, and heartburn. Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 5 Mar. 2024 Castor oil may cause dehydration, diarrhea, and nausea. Ashley Mateo, Health, 2 Mar. 2024 The symptoms of ethanol poisoning include vomiting, nausea, slowed breathing, and drowsiness, among others. John Towfighi, CNN, 29 Feb. 2024 Food poisoning symptoms often consist of stomach pain, nausea, and/or diarrhea, and usually manifest within an hour to many hours after eating spoiled food. Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2024 Consider acupressure or acupuncture, which some people claim helps their nausea. Lisa Milbrand, Parents, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nausea.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of nausea was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near nausea

Cite this Entry

“Nausea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nausea. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

nausea

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

More from Merriam-Webster on nausea

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