nauseatingly
UK[ˈnɔːziˌeɪtɪŋli]US[ˈnɔːziˌeɪtɪŋli]
adv
in a way that causes a feeling of disgust or sickness
adv
to an extremely unpleasant or offensive degree
Morpheme Breakdown
nauseat
ing
ly
nauseat
to cause nausea
ing
adjective suffix
ly
adverb suffix
Etymology
the word's journey begins with the ancient greek nausia, meaning 'seasickness', derived from naus (ship). this passed into latin as nausea, retaining the core sense of sickness, particularly that induced by the sea. in english, the verb 'nauseate' was formed by adding the latin verbal suffix -ate to this root, shifting the meaning to 'cause to feel sick'. the addition of the adjectival suffix '-ing' creates a participle describing something that provokes this feeling. finally, the old english adverbial suffix '-ly' is appended, transforming it into a modifier that describes the manner of being disgustingly or sickeningly offensive, thus completing the evolution from a description of physical distress to one of intense metaphorical revulsion.
Analysis
Structure: nauseat (to cause nausea) + ing (adjective suffix) + ly (adverb suffix)
- nauseat: from latin nausea (seasickness, feeling of sickness), functioning as the verb root.
- ing: from old english -ende, a suffix used to form present participles and adjectives.
- ly: from old english -līce, a suffix used to form adverbs from adjectives.
Examples
the smell from the dumpster was nauseatingly strong.
the film's sentimentality was nauseatingly sweet.
he described the injury in nauseatingly graphic detail.