Nauseous vs nauseated
Nauseated means you feel sick to your stomach. Nauseous traditionally means causing that feeling, though most writers now say nauseating for that. Today nauseous usually means feeling sick, which dictionaries accept, but some careful writers object.
Nauseated ends in -ed, like other feeling words such as bored, tired and scared.
nauseous adjective
Causing a sick feeling in the stomach (the traditional sense). Today it is more often used to mean feeling sick, which dictionaries accept.
- A nauseous smell of rotting fish drifted up from the docks.
- The nauseous fumes from the factory made us cover our noses.
nauseated adjective
Feeling sick to your stomach, as if you might throw up.
- The rough crossing left half the passengers pale and nauseated.
- She felt nauseated after riding the roller coaster twice.
Watch out
- Most people today use nauseous to mean feeling sick, and major dictionaries accept it. Some teachers and editors still object, so nauseated is the safer choice in formal writing.Some patients feel nauseous for a day or two after the anesthetic wears off.
- Nauseated is also the past tense of the verb nauseate, meaning to make someone feel sick or disgusted.The stench from the dumpster nauseated everyone who walked past.
Test yourself
A blank smell of burning rubber filled the garage.
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nauseous. The smell causes the sick feeling, so it is nauseous.
By the third spin of the carousel, I felt so blank that I had to get off.
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Either. The speaker feels sick. Both words work. Nauseated is safer in formal writing, since some readers object to nauseous here.
The blank odor of the swamp drove the campers away.
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nauseous. The odor is what makes people feel sick, so nauseous fits.
After the long bus ride, the children felt dizzy and blank.
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Either. The children feel sick. Both words work, but nauseated is the choice no reader objects to.
Full entries: nauseousnauseated