qualm

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. twinge, pang, throe; misgiving, compunction, uneasiness, remorse. See fear, penitence.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Doubt]

Syn. scruple, misgiving, doubt, compunction, reservation, uneasiness, apprehension, hesitation, hesitancy, indecision, pang, twinge, twinge of conscience, equivocalness, second thought, funny feeling*; see also doubt 2 .

2. [Nausea]

Syn. faintness, dizziness, queasiness; see illness 1 .

Syn.- qualm implies a painful feeling of uneasiness arising from a consciousness that one is or may be acting wrongly [ I had qualms about leaving the children alone in the house ] ; scruple implies doubt or hesitation arising from difficulty in deciding what is right, proper, just, etc. [ to break a promise without scruple] ; compunction implies a twinge of conscience for wrongdoing, now often for a slight offense [ to have no compunctions about telling a white lie ] ; misgiving implies a disturbed state of mind resulting from a loss of confidence as to whether one is doing what is right [misgivings of conscience ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

uneasiness, misgiving, doubt, twinge, anxiety, sick feeling, uncertainty, pang, apprehension, compunction, scruple.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun A feeling of uncertainty about the fitness or correctness of an action: compunction, misgiving, reservation, scruple. See CERTAIN.