What does "squeamish" mean?

Easily shocked, sickened or frightened; tending to be nauseated or nervous; oversensitive.

What is a synonym for "squeamish"?

Common synonyms include: airsick, barfy, bashful, boggling, carsick, critical.

Squeamish

/ˈskwiːmɪʃ/ adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Usage: "Squeamish" is primarily used as a adjective. Its central meaning — excessively fastidious and easily disgusted — makes it most effective in contexts where precision matters over a more general alternative.

Origin: Origin obscure. Likely a merger of earlier squeamous (“squeamish”), from Middle English squaimous, queimous, from Anglo-Norman escoimus, escoymous, of unknown origin; and dialectal English sweamish, sweemish (“faint, squeamish”), from sweam (“dizziness, sudden qualm of sickness”) and dialectal sweem (“to swoon, be faint, be overcome, feel sick”), from Middle English swemen (“to grieve, make suffer, be faint of heart”), from Old English *swǣman (“to grieve, trouble, afflict”). If so, then related to swim (“to be dizzy, swoon”). See also sweam.

Watch out: Writers sometimes confuse "squeamish" with "dainty" or "nice" — the words overlap in meaning but differ in nuance or register. Use "squeamish" when you specifically mean its core sense rather than defaulting to it as a generic substitute.

Definitions

Adjective

1
Easily shocked, sickened or frightened; tending to be nauseated or nervous; oversensitive.
"He might have made a good doctor, had he not been so squeamish at the sight of blood."
2
Averse or reluctant.

Adjective

1
excessively fastidious and easily disgusted wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

airsick barfy bashful boggling carsick critical

Antonyms

All antonyms

carefree easygoing flexible hardy

Example

More examples

"Tom was very squeamish and would pass out at the sight of blood."

Etymology

Origin obscure. Likely a merger of earlier squeamous (“squeamish”), from Middle English squaimous, queimous, from Anglo-Norman escoimus, escoymous, of unknown origin; and dialectal English sweamish, sweemish (“faint, squeamish”), from sweam (“dizziness, sudden qualm of sickness”) and dialectal sweem (“to swoon, be faint, be overcome, feel sick”), from Middle English swemen (“to grieve, make suffer, be faint of heart”), from Old English *swǣman (“to grieve, trouble, afflict”). If so, then related to swim (“to be dizzy, swoon”). See also sweam.

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