• nauseous •
Pronunciation: naw-zee-ês • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Causing an urge to vomit, nauseating. (Most dictionaries would also include "nauseated" as a definition but see our Notes.)
Notes: Choosing among the various adjectives derived from nauseate is becoming a problem among English speakers. The cause of the urge is either nauseous or nauseating. The experience of nausea leaves you nauseated—not nauseous. A dill pickle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream is nauseous because it nauseates us. We, on the other hand, feel nauseated at the thought of consuming such an 'indelicacy'.
In Play: OK, let's practice the difference we have just learned. "Marge's new perfume is absolutely nauseous; I feel nauseated every time I smell it." Certain types of motion can nauseate us, too: "The drive up Pike's Peak was so nauseous I threw up when we reached the top." That's enough; I find writing about such things is nauseous.
Word History: Of course, nothing is more likely to nauseate us than sailing on a ship, so wouldn't you just know that nausea is based on the Greek word naus "ship". Nausia (or nautia) in Greek meant "seasickness". English nautical is based on a derivation of naus, nautes "sailor". This same PIE word turned up in Latin as navis "ship" from which English navy and naval are derived. Latin also made a verb out of navis, navigare "to sail", from which we derived navigate. (We are happy that Rogers George managed to sail today's Good Word to us without any ill effects.)
NAUSEOUS
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NAUSEOUS
• The Good Dr. Goodword
Re: NAUSEOUS
That combination verges on noxious.A dill pickle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream is nauseous because it nauseates us.
:-p
I once became very nauseated when one of my customer's daughter barfed on the floor right in front of me. That led to an embarrassing chain of events that ultimately ended in the janitor's having to clean up two piles of tossed cookies. To this day it is still hard to look him in the eye. (I guess he now knows just how gutsy I really can be)
Huny- Who gets sea sickness before we even leave port Nothing a little Xanax won't clear up.
Huny- Who gets sea sickness before we even leave port Nothing a little Xanax won't clear up.
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compaired to what lies inside us." R.W.E.
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