Nauseous vs. Nauseated: What’s the Difference?

Both nauseous and nauseated relate to feeling sick or queasy — but their meanings aren’t identical.
The difference comes down to traditional grammar vs. modern usage.

Here’s the short rule:

• Nauseated → means feeling sick 🤢
• Nauseous → traditionally means causing sickness, but now often used to mean feeling sick too.

1. Nauseated: The Traditional and Still-Correct Form

Meaning

“Nauseated” describes the feeling of being sick to your stomach — when you want to throw up or feel dizzy.

Examples (10 total)

1. I felt nauseated after eating too fast.
2. The roller coaster made me nauseated.
3. She became nauseated during the long car ride.
4. He looked pale and nauseated.
5. The smell of the fish made me nauseated.
6. After spinning around, we were all nauseated.
7. The medicine made her nauseated.
8. I get nauseated when I read in the car.
9. The boat’s motion left him nauseated for hours.
10. The patient said she felt nauseated after surgery.

🧠 Tip:
If you feel sick, the correct traditional word is nauseated.

2. Nauseous: Traditionally “Causing Nausea”

Meaning

Historically, “nauseous” meant something that causes nausea — not the feeling itself.
So something disgusting or smelly could be described as nauseous.

Examples (10 total)

1. The trash gave off a nauseous smell.
2. That spoiled milk was nauseous.
3. The fumes were so nauseous we had to leave.
4. The sight of the wound was nauseous.
5. A nauseous odor filled the room.
6. The rotten food looked nauseous.
7. The combination of smells was nauseous.
8. The scene in the movie was too nauseous to watch.
9. Those chemicals release a nauseous gas.
10. The dirty water gave off a nauseous stench.

🧠 Tip:
If something makes you feel sick, it’s nauseous.

3. Modern Usage: “Nauseous” Now Means “Nauseated” Too

In modern English — especially American English — nauseous is now commonly used to mean feeling sick.
For example:

“I feel nauseous.” ✅
This sentence would once have been “wrong,” but today it’s considered standard and accepted.

Examples in Modern Speech

• I felt nauseous after the boat ride.
• She got nauseous from the smell of paint.
• The bumpy flight made me nauseous.

Even style guides like Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries now accept nauseous to mean nauseated in everyday usage.

4. Quick Comparison Table

5. How to Remember

👉 If you feel sick, say nauseated (formal/traditional).
👉 If something causes sickness, call it nauseous (traditional).
👉 But in everyday speech, both are okay.

💡 Memory Trick:

“I’m nauseated by a nauseous smell.”

6. Common Mistakes

❌ The smell made me nauseated. (Actually correct!)
✅ The smell was nauseous.

❌ I’m nauseous because I ate too much. (Traditionally wrong, but widely accepted now.)
✅ I’m nauseated because I ate too much. (Grammatically precise.)

7. Why People Get Confused

Language evolves!
Over time, people began using nauseous to describe the feeling, and dictionaries eventually caught up.
Today, both are fine — but nauseated remains the more formal or precise word in medical or academic writing.

Even advanced writing assistants like Humanizey recognize this evolution and adapt your text automatically to sound natural for your audience.

FAQs

1. Is “I feel nauseous” wrong?

Not anymore. It’s now considered standard English in both the U.S. and U.K.

2. Is “nauseated” more formal?

Yes — it’s the preferred choice in academic or medical writing.

3. Do doctors say “nauseous” or “nauseated”?

Most medical professionals still use nauseated to describe patients’ symptoms.

4. Can “nauseous” mean disgusting?

Yes. “A nauseous smell” still means “a disgusting or sickening smell.”

Practice: Choose the Correct Word (“Nauseous” or “Nauseated”)

(Answers are listed at the end.)

1. I felt ___ after the roller coaster ride.
2. The rotten eggs gave off a ___ odor.
3. She looked pale and ___.
4. The smell of gasoline made him ___.
5. That dirty water looks ___.
6. I felt ___ after reading in the car.
7. The trash was giving off a ___ stench.
8. He became ___ during the long flight.
9. The sight of the spoiled food was ___.
10. I got ___ after eating too much.

Answers

1. nauseated
2. nauseous
3. nauseated
4. nauseated
5. nauseous
6. nauseated
7. nauseous
8. nauseated
9. nauseous
10. nauseated