About nauseous:

the -ous suffix in and of itself doesn't mean -ing or -ed. It means "rich with..."

See acetous, acrimonious, adipous, adventurous, amorous, calamitous...

Now, if you are nauseous, and "contain a lot of nausea", it can be both that you are nauseating or nauseated.

The OED gives both meanings as correct, and I don't think it's a misuse to use any of them.


This being the -ous suffix coming from Latin -osus. Some other English words seem to have -ous as a loan from -us (Carboniferous, cutaneous, propitious...)