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qualm
 (kwäm, kwôm)
KEY
NOUN:
ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown OTHER FORMS: qualm  ish
(Adjective),
qualmish·ly
(Adverb)
SYNONYMS: qualm , scruple , compunction , misgiving These nouns denote a feeling of uncertainty about the fitness or correctness of an action. Qualm is a disturbing feeling of uneasiness and self-doubt: "an ignorant ruffianly gaucho, who . . . would . . . fight, steal, and do other naughty things without a qualm" (W.H. Hudson). Scruple is an uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle about a course of action: "My father's old-fashioned notions boggled a little at first to this arrangement . . . but his scruples were in the end overruled" (John Galt). Compunction implies a prick or twinge of conscience aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing: stole the money without compunction. Misgiving suggests often sudden apprehension: had misgivings about quitting his job.
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