Ad Nauseam / *Ad Nauseum | Meaning & Examples

Ad nauseam is an adverb meaning ‘to a sickening degree’.

It’s usually not used literally to refer to sickness or nausea but instead means that something is going on and on, or being repeated over and over, until it becomes annoying or boring (until you’re sick of it).

Examples: ‘Ad nauseam’ in a sentence
The issue of gun control has been debated ad nauseam.

Steve talks about his boyfriend ad nauseam.

The teacher made her repeat the memory exercises ad nauseam.

Though people often misspell it ‘ad nauseum’, the only correct spelling is ‘ad nauseam’.

Ad nauseam is a term that comes from Latin, but it’s been used in English for hundreds of years, so you don’t need to italicise it as you would for a more recent loanword.

Scribbr’s Grammar Checker can help ensure you’re using phrases like ‘ad nauseam’ correctly.

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Caulfield, J. (2024, November 07). Ad Nauseam / *Ad Nauseum | Meaning & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 18 November 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/definition/ad-nauseam-meaning/

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Jack Caulfield

Jack is a Brit based in Amsterdam, with an MA in comparative literature. He writes for Scribbr about his specialist topics: grammar, linguistics, citations, and plagiarism. In his spare time, he reads a lot of books.