qualm

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qualm

uneasy feeling; pang of conscience; misgiving: She has no qualms about lying to her parents.

Not to be confused with:

queasy – troubled; anxious; worried; nauseated; upset: After she ate the spoiled food she felt queasy.

qualm

(kwäm, kwôm)

1. An uneasy feeling about the propriety or rightness of a course of action: "an ignorant ruffianly gaucho, who ... would ... fight, steal, and do other naughty things without a qualm" (W.H. Hudson).

2. A sudden disturbing feeling: "I heard with a qualm of terror the faint, remorseless sound of a telephone ringing somewhere down in the depths of the house" (John Banville).

3. A sudden feeling of sickness, faintness, or nausea.

[Origin unknown.]

qualm′ish adj.

qualm′ish·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

qualm

(kwɑːm)

1. a sudden feeling of sickness or nausea

2. a pang or sudden feeling of doubt, esp concerning moral conduct; scruple

3. a sudden sensation of misgiving or unease

[Old English cwealm death or plague; related to Old High German qualm despair, Dutch kwalm smoke, stench]

ˈqualmish, ˈqualmy adj

ˈqualmishly adv

ˈqualmishness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

qualm

(kwäm, kwôm),
n.

1. an uneasy feeling or pang of conscience as to conduct; compunction: He has no qualms about lying.

2. a sudden feeling of apprehensive uneasiness; misgiving.

3. a sudden sensation or onset of faintness or illness, esp. of nausea.

[1520–30]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	qualm - uneasiness about the fitness of an action misgiving, scruple anxiety - a vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined) misfortune
	2.	qualm - a mild state of nausea queasiness, squeamishness nausea, sickness - the state that precedes vomiting

qualm

noun misgiving, doubt, uneasiness, regret, anxiety, uncertainty, reluctance, hesitation, remorse, apprehension, disquiet, scruple, compunction, twinge or pang of conscience I had a sudden qualm that all might not be well.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

qualm

noun

A feeling of uncertainty about the fitness or correctness of an action:

compunction, misgiving, reservation, scruple.

Translations

إرْتِياب، هاجِس، وَسْواس

skrupule

betænkelighed

efasemd

dvejonė

bažasšaubas

samvittighetsnag

endişehuzursuzluk

疑虑

qualm

[kwɑːm] N

1. (= scruple) → escrúpulo m
he had no qualms about throwing them out on the street → no tuvo ningún escrúpulo para echarlos a la calle

2. (= misgiving) → duda f
she signed it without a qualm → no tuvo ninguna duda al firmarlo
he had qualms about their trustworthiness → tenía dudas acerca de su honradez
I would have no qualms about doing the same again → no dudaría en hacer lo mismo otra vez

3. (Med) → náusea f, mareo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

qualm

[ˈkwɑːm] n

(= hesitation) → hésitation f (= doubt) → doute m
moral qualms → scrupules mpl
to have qualms about sth (= doubts) → avoir des doutes sur qch
I have qualms about some of his arguments → J'ai des doutes sur certains de ses arguments.
to have qualms about doing sth (= hesitate to) → hésiter à faire qch
to have no qualms about doing sth (= no hesitation) → ne pas hésiter à faire qch

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

qualm

(= doubt, scruple) → Skrupel m, → Bedenken nt; I would feel or have no qualms about killing that dog → ich würde keine Bedenken or Skrupel haben, den Hund zu töten; without the slightest qualm → ohne die geringsten Skrupel or Bedenken; without a qualm → ohne jeden Skrupel; qualms of conscience → Gewissensbisse pl; he suddenly had qualms about it → ihn überkamen plötzlich Skrupel or Bedenken

(= misgiving) → Bedenken nt; I had some qualms about his future → ich hatte mancherlei Bedenken hinsichtlich seiner Zukunft

(old: = nausea) → Übelkeit f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

qualm

[kwɑːm] n (often pl, fear) → apprensione f; (scruple) → scrupolo, esitazione f
to have qualms about sth → avere degli scrupoli per qc

qualm

(kwaːm) noun

a feeling of uncertainty about whether one is doing right. She had no qualms about reporting her husband's crime to the police.

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I should have no qualms about tightening the rope round the neck of some human monster, or sticking a neat dagger or bullet into a dangerous, treacherous foe, but to kill a dream is a sickening business.

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"Well then," said the lacquey, "I feel qualms of conscience, and I should lay a-heavy burden upon it if I were to proceed any further with the combat; I therefore declare that I yield myself vanquished, and that I am willing to marry the lady at once."

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But in Princess Drubetskaya's case he felt, after her second appeal, something like qualms of conscience.

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That having quietly acquiesced in what was of so much greater importance, it was absurd, if not downright hypocrisy, to affect any qualms at this trifle.

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I mastered my qualms and downed it like so much medicine.

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The flesh and the qualms of the flesh she was heir to, but the flesh bore heavily only on the flesh.

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I had to cling tight to the backstay, and the world turned giddily before my eyes, for though I was a good enough sailor when there was way on, this standing still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never learned to stand without a qualm or so, above all in the morning, on an empty stomach.

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The doctor seemed seized with a qualm of faintness; he shut his mouth tight and nodded.

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With a frightful qualm, I turned, and I saw that I had grasped the antenna of another monster crab that stood just behind me.

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Clare had studied the curves of those lips so many times that he could reproduce them mentally with ease: and now, as they again confronted him, clothed with colour and life, they sent an AURA over his flesh, a breeze through his nerves, which wellnigh produced a qualm; and actually produced, by some mysterious physiological process, a prosaic sneeze.

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I was surprised to witness how coolly the child gathered himself up, and went on with his intention; exchanging saddles and all, and then sitting down on a bundle of hay to overcome the qualm which the violent blow occasioned, before he entered the house.

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With a feeling like a sick qualm, as though I would like to make my way out of the crowd and go home, I staked another fifty gulden--this time on the red.