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qualmish

qualmish

9.9
Feeling slightly sick or disgusted after seeing something unpleasant
  • adjective
  • /ˈkwɑːlmɪʃ/
translation icon : mareado
  • He felt qualmish at the sight of blood during the biology lesson.

Examples

  • The movie was so graphic that even the least qualmish viewers looked away.

  • Some people are too qualmish to handle stories about medical emergencies.

  • I felt qualmish after eating that questionable sushi.

  • She became qualmish at the sight of the blood.

  • After eating too many spicy tacos, I felt qualmish and needed to lie down.

  • The sight of the rotten food made me qualmish and I lost my appetite.

  • He became qualmish when he saw the dirty dishes piled up in the sink.

Synonyms

sick
vsqualmish
579 1.0

Feeling like you might throw up

is less specific, also meaning unease or disgust from sights
disgusted
vsqualmish
68 2.0

Feeling very upset and showing strong dislike for something dirty or rude

is milder and often mixes slight nausea with uneasy feelings
queasy
vsqualmish
30 4.1

Feeling sick and likely to throw up

is broader, also covering uneasy feelings and disgust at sights
squeamish
vsqualmish
25 6.7

Easily made to feel disgusted by seeing, smelling, or thinking about unpleasant things

is more about stomach sickness as well as uneasy disgust
nauseated
vsqualmish
10 4.5

Feeling sick and likely to vomit

is wider, adding general unease and disgust by unpleasant sights
sickish
vsqualmish
1 6.7

Slightly ill in the stomach and likely to throw up

is more general, including both mild nausea and uneasy disgust
barfy
vsqualmish
  • Informal
1 8.9

Feeling like you will throw up or making someone feel like that

is a broader, less crude term covering nausea and unease

Antonyms

190 1.0

A feeling of physical ease and being free from pain

How Queasy

sick
579 1.0
nauseous
66 4.4
qualmish
9.9
queasy
30 4.1
uneasy
98 3.2
comfortable
494 1.0

Surface Forms

qualmish positive

Morphology

qualmish = qualm (transparent) = qualm + ish

The adjective is directly formed from the noun 'qualm' with the productive suffix '-ish' meaning 'characterized by' or 'somewhat'.

Etymology

Qualmish comes from the simple noun qualm, which once meant a sudden bad feeling in the stomach and was linked long ago to an old word for 'sudden illness' or 'death'. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine a quick wave in your stomach that makes you feel 'sick' or disgusted, which is why qualmish describes feeling faint or easily upset by unpleasant sights.