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qualm

nounverb
Quick answer

As a noun, qualm means a feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc. As a verb, it means have a sickly feeling.

Meanings of qualm

8 meanings

noun

  1. A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc.

  2. A sudden sickly feeling; queasiness.

  3. now negative polarityA prick of the conscience; a moral scruple, a pang of guilt.

    “This lawyer has no qualms about saving people who are on the wrong side of the law.”

  4. Uneasiness about the fitness of an action (particularly for reasons of ethics, morals or propriety)feeling

    Similar: scruple, misgiving

  5. A mild state of nausea

    Similar: queasiness, squeamishness
Older and rare meanings (2)

  1. archaicuk dialectalMortality; plague; pestilence.

  2. archaicuk dialectalA calamity or disaster.

verb

  1. To have a sickly feeling.

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).

Synonyms by meaning

noun: uneasiness about the fitness of an action (particularly f…
scruplemisgiving
noun: a mild state of nausea
queasinesssqueamishness

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Nearby words

qualifierqualifyqualifyingqualitativequalitativelyqualityquandaryquandongquantquantificationquantifierquantify