Differentiating Nauseated and Nauseous: Simplifying Usage and Meaning

Understanding Nauseated vs. Nauseous

Do you feel confused about the words nauseated and nauseous? Let’s learn the difference between them using easy English.

History

Both words come from the Latin word nausea, which means “sickness” or “seasickness.” Over time, the meaning of these words has changed a bit.

How to Use Them

Nauseated means feeling like you want to throw up. It is how you feel when your stomach is upset.

Nauseous was originally used to describe something that makes you feel sick, but now people often use it like nauseated, to mean feeling sick.

Trick to Remember the Difference

Think of the letter “D” in nauseated as standing for “done for” because you feel very sick. Remember nauseous as the thing that causes the sickness.

Examples of Using “Nauseated”

1. After eating the old bread, Tom felt nauseated.
2. If you spin in circles too fast, you might feel nauseated.
3. Jane felt nauseated during the long car trip.
4. The strong smell from the bin made her nauseated.
5. He was nauseated from the choppy boat ride.

Examples of Using “Nauseous”

1. The garbage gave off a nauseous smell.
2. That medicine is nauseous to me.
3. The nauseous fumes from the paint made her dizzy.
4. He told jokes about nauseous foods.
5. When the milk went bad, it became nauseous.

Summary

Though nauseous has been used to describe both feeling ill and things that make you feel sick, the traditional use is for things that cause sickness. Nauseated is how you feel when you’re queasy.

Next time, if you say you feel nauseated, it means you are sick. If something seems nauseous, it probably smells or looks bad and makes others feel sick.