每日单词: qualm

qualm

英 [kwɑːm] 美 [kwɑːm]

n.疑虑；晕眩；紧张不安

◉词源

“Qualm”源自16世纪英语，可能是古英语 cwealm（痛苦、死亡）或中古英语 qualm（瘟疫、病痛）的延续，源自原始日耳曼语 kwalmaz（痛苦）。最初指“病痛”或“不安”，后演变为名词，形容内心的不安、疑虑或道德上的犹豫。

◉外刊例句

① 《经济学人》（The Economist），2024年10月5日

She had no qualms about rejecting the risky deal.

她对拒绝这笔冒险的交易毫无不安。

② 《纽约时报》（The New York Times），2023年11月12日

He felt a qualm of guilt after the argument.

争吵后，他感到一丝内疚的不安。

③ 《卫报》（The Guardian），2025年1月8日

The decision to cut funding sparked qualms among activists.

削减资金的决定在活动家们中引发了疑虑。

◉经典名著

① 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet），威廉·莎士比亚（William Shakespeare），约1600年

A qualm of doubt haunted his mind.

一丝疑虑困扰着他的内心。

② 《简·爱》（Jane Eyre），夏洛蒂·勃朗特（Charlotte Brontë），1847年

She had qualms about leaving him.

她对离开他感到不安。

◉Usage Examples

(1) He felt the flowing qualm spread over him.

(2) The doctor seemed seized with a qualm of faintness.

(3) After I was weaken up, I found qualm in a lot of novels was false.

(4) He felt no serious qualms about concealing the information from the police.

(1) 他觉得那股疑惧涌遍全身。

(2) 博士显得好象一阵眩晕发作。

(3) 我身体虚弱以后，才发现很多小说里描写的晕眩是虚假的。

(4) 他向警方隐瞒实情而并未感到十分不妥。

◉Usage Notes

A qualm is a feeling of uneasiness, or a sense that something you're doing is wrong, and it sounds almost like how it makes your stomach feel. If you had qualms about taking candy from the bulk bins at the store, your conscience probably told you to go back to the cashier and pay.

Qualm entered English in the 16th century, with meanings like "doubt" and "uneasiness." Usually a qualm comes from doubt about an action and a feeling that you are doing, or are about to do, something wrong. It isn’t a bad feeling about another person's behavior but about your own. If you have qualms about lying to get into the over-18 dance club, you might decide to follow your gut-check and meet your friends for coffee instead.

◉柯林斯词典

1[N-COUNT 可数名词]忧虑；不安；担忧 If you have no qualms about doing something, you are not worried that it may be wrong in some way.

I have no qualms about recommending this approach...