nauseating
UK[ˈnɔːziˌeɪtɪŋ]US[ˈnɔːziˌeɪtɪŋ]
adj
causing or liable to cause a feeling of nausea or disgust; sickening.
adj
extremely unpleasant or offensive.
Morpheme Breakdown
nause
at
ing
nause
sickness
at
verb suffix
ing
adjective suffix
Etymology
the word 'nauseating' originates from the greek 'nausia', which literally meant 'seasickness', derived from 'naus' (ship). this term passed into latin as 'nausea', retaining the core meaning of sickness, particularly motion sickness. the latin verb 'nauseare' (to feel seasick, to cause sickness) was formed, which entered english as 'nauseate'. by adding the english adjectival suffix '-ing', the word evolved to describe something that actively causes the feeling of sickness or intense disgust, extending the physical sensation to a metaphorical sense of profound repulsion.
Analysis
Structure: nause (sickness) + at (verb suffix) + ing (adjective suffix)
nause (from latin 'nausea', meaning 'seasickness, nausea', itself from greek 'nausia', from 'naus' meaning 'ship'); at (a latin verbal suffix used to form verbs, here part of the base verb 'nauseate'); ing (english suffix forming present participles and adjectives from verbs).
Examples
the smell from the chemical spill was absolutely nauseating.
he found the movie's violence to be visually nauseating.
her nauseatingly sweet compliments made everyone uncomfortable.