qualm
/kwɑːm/
"qualm" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“qualm” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | qualm |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kwɑːm/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “qualm” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for qualm is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kwɑːm/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for qualm in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Perhaps from Middle English qualm, cwalm (“death, sickness, plague”), which is from Old English cwealm (West Saxon: "death, disaster, plague"), ūtcwalm (Anglian: "utter destruction"), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalm (“killing, death, destruction”), from Pro… The correct English form is qualm, spelled Q-U-A-L-M.
Definition
- 1A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc.
- 2A sudden sickly feeling; queasiness.
- 3A prick of the conscience; a moral scruple, a pang of guilt.
- 4Mortality; plague; pestilence.
- 5A calamity or disaster.
Etymology
Perhaps from Middle English qualm, cwalm (“death, sickness, plague”), which is from Old English cwealm (West Saxon: "death, disaster, plague"), ūtcwalm (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.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Using “qualm”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Q-U-A-L-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kwɑːm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.