What it means
تهوع (tahavvo’) means nausea, that queasy feeling in your stomach when you sense you might vomit. It is a loanword from Arabic, where it comes from the root meaning to retch. In Persian it sounds formal and a bit clinical, so you hear it most in the fixed phrase حالت تهوع (hālat-e tahavvo’), literally “a state of nausea.” In casual speech people often prefer the native expression دلم بههم میخوره (delam be-ham mikhore), “my stomach is turning,” for the same feeling.
How to use it
- حالت تهوع دارم (hālat-e tahavvo’ dāram) “I feel nauseous.”
- این دارو ممکنه باعث تهوع بشه (in dāru momkene bā’es-e tahavvo’ beshe) “This medicine might cause nausea.”
- از صبح حالت تهوع دارم (az sobh hālat-e tahavvo’ dāram) “I have felt nauseous since morning.”
- تو ماشین تهوع میگیرم (tu māshin tahavvo’ migiram) “I get nauseous in the car.”
Cultural note
Because تهوع carries a formal, medical tone, it is the word doctors and pharmacists use when listing symptoms or side effects. On medicine leaflets you will often see تهوع و استفراغ (tahavvo’ va estefrāgh), “nausea and vomiting,” paired together. In everyday conversation among friends or family, Iranians lean toward the more down-to-earth دل بههم خوردگی (del be-ham khordegi) or simply say دلم بد شد (delam bad shod), “I felt sick.”