nauseating

Nauseating is an adjective used to describe something that can cause nausea or a strong feeling of disgust. In medical terms, it refers to stimuli that provoke the sensation of queasiness in the stomach and a possible urge to vomit. In general usage, it can also describe things that are morally or aesthetically repugnant to a strong degree.

Etymology: from the verb nauseate, which derives from Latin naus, from Greek nausia, related to seasickness. The suffix -ing forms an adjective describing ongoing or continuous effect. The word is commonly used attributively (nauseating odor) or predicatively (the odor was nauseating).

Usage notes: Although nausea is the symptom, 'nauseating' does not indicate the person feels ill; it describes the thing's effect. There is a common divergence in usage between 'nauseous' and 'nauseated': many style guides advise 'nauseous' as 'causing nausea' and 'nauseated' as 'feeling nauseated', though in everyday use both senses appear. In informal usage, 'nauseous' is often used for both.

Related terms: nauseant or nauseant substance, the noun nausea, and the terms emetic (a substance that provokes vomiting) and sickening as a synonym.