squeamish

  • 1Squeamish — Squeam ish (skw[=e]m [i^]sh), a. [OE. squaimous, sweymous, probably from OE. sweem, swem, dizziness, a swimming in the head; cf. Icel. sveimr a bustle, a stir, Norw. sveim a hovering about, a sickness that comes upon one, Icel. svimi a giddiness …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2squeamish — index disinclined, reluctant Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3squeamish — mid 15c., variant of squoymous disdainful, fastidious (c.1300), from Anglo Fr. *escoymous, which is of unknown origin. He was somdel squaymous Of fartyng, and of speche daungerous [Chaucer, Miller s Tale, c.1386] …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4squeamish — ñnicky, ñnicking, finical, particular, fussy, persnickety, pernickety, fastidious, *nice, dainty Analogous words: exacting, demanding, requiring (see DEMAND): hypercritical, *critical, faultfinding, caviling, captious, carping …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5squeamish — [adj] nauseated; finicky annoyed, captious, delicate, disgusted, dizzy, exacting, fastidious, fussy, hypercritical, mincing, particular, prim, prudish, puritanical, qualmish, queasy, queer, scrupulous, shaky, sick, sickly, sick to one’s stomach* …

    New thesaurus

  • 6squeamish — ► ADJECTIVE 1) easily nauseated or disgusted. 2) having fastidious moral views. DERIVATIVES squeamishly adverb squeamishness noun. ORIGIN Old French escoymos …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7squeamish — [skwē′mish] adj. [ME squaymysch, earlier squaimous < Anglo Fr escoimous, orig., disdainful, shy] 1. having a digestive system that is easily upset; easily nauseated; queasy 2. easily shocked or offended; prudish 3. excessively fastidious;… …

    English World dictionary

  • 8squeamish — adjective 1) I m too squeamish to gut fish are you squeamish about a little blood? Syn: easily nauseated, nervous; (squeamish about) put off by, not able to stand the sight of 2) less squeamish nations will sell them arms Syn: scrupulous,… …

    Thesaurus of popular words

  • 9squeamish — squeam|ish [ˈskwi:mıʃ] adj [Date: 1300 1400; : Anglo French; Origin: escoymous] 1.) easily shocked or upset, or easily made to feel sick by seeing unpleasant things 2.) the squeamish [plural] people who are squeamish ▪ His new novel is not for… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 10squeamish — [[t]skwi͟ːmɪʃ[/t]] ADJ GRADED: usu v link ADJ If you are squeamish, you are easily upset by unpleasant sights or situations. I m terribly squeamish. I can t bear gory films... I am not squeamish about blood. Derived words: squeamishness N UNCOUNT …

    English dictionary