Slova
Nauseous is usually pronounced NAW-shus in American English, with two syllables, and NAW-zee-us in British English, with three. The stress is on the first syllable in both. Cambridge's American dictionary also lists NAW-zee-us.
nauseous
adjective · feeling as if you are going to be sick; also, making you feel sick
Also said: US /ˈnɑː.ʃəs/ or /ˈnɔː.zi.əs/.
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Cambridge gives /ˈnɑː.ʃəs/ for American English, and its American dictionary also lists NAW-zee-us. We follow Oxford for the US form. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈnɔː.ʃəs/
NAWstressed
shus
UK British English/ˈnɔː.zi.əs/
NAWstressed
zee
us
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes nauseous, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. Nau sounds like saw: NAW. It is never now. Then say shus (US) or zee-us (UK).
Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.
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nauseous
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say NAW-shus.
NotNOW-zee-us
Saying au as in now, as in German. In English, au here sounds like saw: NAW.
Notnaw-ZEE-us
Stressing the second syllable. Put the beat on NAW, the first.
NotNAW-shee-us
Mixing the two forms. Say NAW-shus in American English or NAW-zee-us in British English.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
The boat trip made me feel nauseous.
Some people get nauseous when they read in the car.
The smell of paint made her nauseous.
Nauseous comes from the Latin nauseosus, from nausea, seasickness. That goes back to the Greek naus, a ship, so the word first pointed to the sickness you feel at sea.
In British English each vowel letter keeps a sound: NAW-zee-us. In American English the s and the weak ee join into sh, the same kind of change that gives sh in special and nation. That makes two syllables: NAW-shus.
Usage guides once said nauseous should only describe things that cause sickness, like a nauseous smell, and that a sick person is nauseated. Today Cambridge and Oxford both give feeling sick as the first meaning.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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