nau·seous
(nô
sh
s, -z
-
s)
KEY
ADJECTIVE:
- Causing nausea; sickening:
"the most nauseous offal fit for the gods"
(John Fowles).
-
Usage Problem
Affected with nausea.
OTHER FORMS:
nauseous·ly
(Adverb),
nauseous·ness
(Noun)
Usage Note:
Traditional critics have insisted that
nauseous is properly used only to mean "causing nausea" and that it is incorrect to use it to mean "affected with nausea," as in
Roller coasters make me nauseous.
In this example,
nauseated is preferred by 72 percent of the Usage Panel. Curiously, though, 88 percent of the Panelists prefer using
nauseating in the sentence
The children looked a little green from too many candy apples and nauseating (not nauseous) rides.
Since there is a lot of evidence to show that
nauseous is widely used to mean "feeling sick," it appears that people use
nauseous mainly in the sense in which it is considered incorrect. In its "correct" sense it is being supplanted by
nauseating.
