to turn one's stomach
- idiom
- The carnage was enough to turn his stomach, but he felt no sympathy at all.
- enough to turn one's stomach
- thought of this turns my stomach
- just turned my stomach
Examples
-
The sight of it turned Giselle's stomach.
Fiction book (1999) -
The smell of sputtering grease turned her stomach.
Fiction book (2000) -
- This is beginning to turn my stomach.
-
That just turns my stomach.
-
I think nothing has turned my stomach so much in recent years as reading that piece.
-
Even the smell of beer was usually enough to turn her stomach.
Fiction book (1995) -
What I saw turned my stomach.
Academic text (2011) -
It's enough to turn your stomach, though, I assure you.
Blog text (9) -
I'm sorry, but reading this turns my stomach and makes me incredibly sad for your daughter.
Blog text (17) -
The thought of eating snails always turns my stomach.
Synonyms
Make someone feel very shocked, afraid, or disgusted
To make someone feel strong dislike and sick because something is offensive
To make someone feel strong dislike
Make someone feel strong disgust or moral horror
Make someone feel disgusted or sick
Make someone feel physically ill or upset
Cause someone to feel strong dislike or disgust
To make someone feel sick or disgusted
Make people feel strong disgust or moral upset
Give someone a sick feeling in the stomach after eating or drinking
Cause a strong feeling of fear or disgust with a creepy physical feeling
Make someone feel sudden shock or disgust
Antonyms
How Nauseating
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to cause someone to feel nauseous or disgusted' is directly derivable from combining 'turn' (cause to change) with 'stomach' (the bodily organ), i.e. to cause the stomach to 'turn' or react. This bodily-reaction metaphor is transparent and common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
The idiom turn one's stomach comes from the image of your stomach actually turning or twisting inside you when you see something gross. That's why it now means 'to feel sick' or 'feel disgusted'.