SQUEAMISHNESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does squeamishness mean? 

• SQUEAMISHNESS (noun)
  The noun SQUEAMISHNESS has 2 senses:

1. a mild state of nausea

2. the trait of being excessively fastidious and easily shocked

  Familiarity information: SQUEAMISHNESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SQUEAMISHNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mild state of nausea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

qualm; queasiness; squeamishness

Hypernyms ("squeamishness" is a kind of...):

nausea; sickness (the state that precedes vomiting)

Derivation:

squeamish (excessively fastidious and easily disgusted)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The trait of being excessively fastidious and easily shocked

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

he refused to allow squeamishness to deter him from his duty

Hypernyms ("squeamishness" is a kind of...):

fastidiousness (the trait of being meticulous about matters of taste or style)

Derivation:

squeamish (excessively fastidious and easily disgusted)

 Context examples 

It was in vain that I laughed at his squeamishness, telling him that I should most certainly have claimed my money had I won, so that it would be strange indeed if I were not permitted to pay it when I lost.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I shook hands with him; it seemed silly not to, for I felt suddenly as though I were talking to a child. Then he went into the jewelry store to buy a pearl necklace—or perhaps only a pair of cuff buttons—rid of my provincial squeamishness forever.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)