grammar

Are you nauseous?

Lacey Louwagie

Jul 2, 2009 • 2 min read

I’m not nauseous, but I am a bit headachy and sneezy. But that’s not what I came here to blog about.

I’m working on a manuscript that takes place within he healthcare field, and I got a little suspicious about whether the word “nauseated” was being used correctly. So I learned the difference between nauseous and nauseated once and for all!

1. Nauseous – is a feeling. “I’m nauseous.”

2. Nauseated – is something that someone or something does to you: “Those pickles nauseate me.”

As for me? I’m glad my cold isn’t making me feel nauseous. I’m also glad the cold doesn’t nauseate me. (How’s that for redundancy?)

And, by the way, it’s a LONG manuscript, so no more blogging from me today.

ETA: Heh, never mind, a commenter and the dictionary set me straight on this one. My next post will be about credible sources. 😉 From a more official source (the Merriam-Webster Dictionary):

Main Entry:: nau·seous
Pronunciation:: ˈnȯ-shəs, ˈnȯ-zē-əs
Function:: adjective
Date:: 1612

1 : causing nausea or disgust : nauseating 2 : affected with nausea or disgust

— nau·seous·ly adverb

— nau·seous·ness noun

usage Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for nauseated are mistaken. Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous in sense 1 is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseous in sense 2.