How do you use the word "qualm" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "qualm" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "qualm": He did not have any qualm of conscience. My main qualm about the English language is its unmathematical and awkward orthography.

Qualm Meaning

/kwɑːm/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc.

nounA sudden sickly feeling; queasiness.

Sentence Examples

He did not have any qualm of conscience.

My main qualm about the English language is its unmathematical and awkward orthography.

CEFR Practice Quiz

He felt a ____ about the plan to cheat, which made him confess instantly.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

She had no ____ about speaking her mind, even when her views were unpopular with the group.

Word Origin & History

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.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"[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:

""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:

"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:

"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:

"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:

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