Difference Between Nauseated and Nauseous

Nauseated and Nauseous are the two forms of the same word. This means that both of them essentially mean the same, but grammatically, they have different usages. Thus, care should be taken while you try to use them interchangeably, as not in all situations this can be done. 

Nauseous or Nauseated, What’s the Correct Word?

The difference between the words Nauseous and Nauseated will become quite clear if we just simply learn about these words in detail. Let us look at them one by one. 

Nauseated 

The word Nauseated is the past participle of the verb nauseate. This word is used to refer to something that leads to nausea (distaste, stomach distress and urge to vomit), sickening or disgust. 

Note that since it is a verb, it is used when someone experiences nausea because of any reason. 

Examples of Nauseated in a Sentence

Here are some examples of sentences that use the word Nauseated-

• Ela was nauseated by the sight of the scene. 
• The thought of cleaning the dustbins made him feel nauseated. 
• Some people feel nauseated in the plane. 

Note that in each of these sentences, there is someone feeling nauseated. 

Nauseous 

The word Nauseous is an adjective which is used to refer to something that causes nausea. Since it is an adjective, it is used when something leads to nausea or causes nausea. 

Examples of Nauseous in a Sentence 

Here are some examples of sentences that use the word Nauseous-

• The smell of milk makes me feel nauseous. 
• The thought of eating raw egg makes Ria feel nauseous. 
• The smell of the dead rat made everyone feel nauseous. 

Note that in each of these sentences, there is something that is causing nausea. 

Summing up the Difference 

Nauseated	Nauseous
The word Nauseated is the past participle of the word Nauseate.	The word Nauseous is not a past participle.
Nauseated is a verb.	Nauseous is an adjective.
Nauseated is used to refer to something that leads to nausea (a feeling of disgust and vomiting).	Nauseous is used to refer to something that causes nausea.
It can be used in a sentence as follows – “Mahi felt nauseated by the sight of the dead rat.”	It can be used in a sentence as follows – “The smell of the dead rat made Mahi feel nauseous.”
You can see that here, that the dead rat leads to nausea.	However, here, the dead rat is the reason of nausea.

How to figure out when to use which word? 

To avoid using these terms interchangeably in the wrong way, use this simple trick. 

Remember that nauseated means ‘feeling sick’ while nauseous is used to refer to something that ’causes nausea’. 

Thus, if you say, 

• Rex is nauseated. 

then, it means he is feeling sick. However, if you say, 

• Rex is nauseous. 

then, it means he is causing sickness (if someone possibly can!).