qualm en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /kwɔːm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /kwɑ(l)m/ (General-American)
- /kwɔ(l)m/ (General-American)
- /kwɑːm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /kwæm/ (General-American, obsolete)
- (UK) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- Proto-Indo-European *gʷolH-mos Proto-Germanic *kwalmaz Proto-West Germanic *kwalm Old English cwealm Middle English qualm English qualm Perhaps from Middle English qualm, cwalm (“death, sickness, plague”), which is from Old English cwealm (West Saxon: "death, disaster, plague"), ūtcualm (Anglian: "utter destruction"), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalm (“killing, death, destruction”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to stick, pierce; pain, injury, death”), whence also quell. Although the sense development is possible, this has the problem that there are no attestations in intermediate senses before the appearance of "pang of apprehension, etc." in the 16th century. The alternative etymology is from Dutch kwalm or German Qualm (“steam, vapor, mist”) earlier “daze, stupefaction”, which is from the root of German quellen (“to stream, well up”). The sense “feeling of faintness” is from 1530; “uneasiness, doubt” from 1553; “scruple of conscience” from 1649.
Meanings
-
A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc.
"Do you have any particular qualms about leaving Pencey?" / "Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure … but not too many. Not yet, anyway.[…]"
1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 19:Questions of bad taste have hung around Dear Evan Hansen since it debuted on Broadway in 2016, though such qualms were mostly drowned out by praise for Platt’s visceral live performance and the catchy Broadway-by-way-of-Christian-rock tunes from wunderkind songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (who are also responsible for the toe-tapping numbers from The Greatest Showman).
2021 September 22, Caroline Siede, “Dear Evan Hansen is a misfire on just about every level”, in AV Club:Opponents of those privatization plans hoped to use Mr. [Neil] Armstrong's qualms as ammunition to block the White House initiatives, and they asked for more public statements.
2012 August 25, Andy Pasztor, “Armstrong, first man on Moon, dies”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:Jem’s face showed brief indecision on the ethics of withholding his own dime, but his innate courtesy won and he shifted his dime to his pocket. I did likewise with no qualms.
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:[W]ho vvould not rather Sleep Quietly upon a Hammock, vvithout either Cares in his Head, or Crudities in his Stomach, then lye Carking upon a Bed of State, vvith the Qualms and Tvvinges that accompany Surfeits and Exceſs?
1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[Miscellany Fables.] Fab[le] CCCLXXXIII. A Spider and the Gout [Reflexion].”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 355:
- A sudden sickly feeling; queasiness.
-
(in the negative) A 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.
- (UK, archaic, dialectal) Mortality; plague; pestilence.
- (UK, archaic, dialectal) A calamity or disaster.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| qualms | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| calm | alternative, dialectal | lexicographic |
Deriveds
qualmless · qualmy · qualmishly · qualmish · qualmishness
Relateds
Synonyms
misgiving · scruple · uneasiness · compunction · apprehension · unease
Translations (73)
mi potau (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · nl (aanval van) misselijkheid (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · fi kuvotus (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · es reparo (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · uk сумнів (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · pl skrupuł (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · it paura (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · ka დაბნეულობა (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · cs (lehká) nevolnost (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · bg опасение (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · nl bedenking (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · sv samvetskval (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · nl gewetensbezwaar (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · cs obavy (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · de Gewissensbisse (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · bg безпокойство (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · nl braakneiging (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · fi epäilys (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · pl niepokój (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · nl angstgevoel (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · ro greață (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · nl gewetensaanval (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · nl (plotse) onpasselijkheid (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · pt apreensão (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · cs výčitky (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · uk вагання (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · bg угризение (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · nl onzekerheid (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · sv betänklighet (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · es renuencia (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · ka სინდისის ქენჯნა (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · fr scrupule (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · ka მერყეობა (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · ka ეჭვი (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · ka გულის რევა (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · it dubbio (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · bg гадене (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · it scrupolo (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · uk млість (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · fi epävarmuus (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · es reaciedad (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · mi potau (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · ro scrupul (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · sk zábrany (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · ru тошнота́ (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · es reparo (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · it apprensione (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · cs rozpaky (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · uk докори сумління (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · mi potau (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · nl wroeging (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · ru сомне́ние (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · bg прилошаване (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · cs pochybnosti (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · fr appréhension (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · cs skrupule (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · uk нудота (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · ru угрызе́ния со́вести (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · sk obavy (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · nl scrupule (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · pt receio (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · ro compuncțiune (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · pt mal-estar (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · ru расте́рянность (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · sk pochybnosti (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · mk скрупула (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · nl twijfel (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · sk zábrany (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · pt escrúpulo (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule) · nl onbehagen (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · uk побоювання (sudden feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear, etc.) · fi etominen (sickly feeling of being ill at ease; sudden queasiness) · fi tunnontuska (prick of the conscience, moral scrupule)