squeamish Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite excessively fastidious and easily disgusted
    overnice; nice; prissy; dainty.
    • too nice about his food to take to camp cooking
    • so squeamish he would only touch the toilet handle with his elbow

WordNet

Squeam"ish adjective
Etymology
OE. squaimous, sweymous, probably from OE. sweem, swem, dizziness, a swimming in the head; cf. Icel. svemr a bustle, a stir, Norw. sveim a hovering about, a sickness that comes upon one, Icel. svimi a giddiness, AS. swimi. The word has been perhaps confused witrh qualmish. Cf. Swim to be dizzy.
Definitions
  1. Having a stomach that is easily or nauseated; hence, nice to excess in taste; fastidious; easily disgusted; apt to be offended at trifling improprieties.
    Quoth he, that honor's very squeamish That takes a basting for a blemish. Hudibras.
    His muse is rustic, and perhaps too plain The men of squeamish taste to entertain. Southern.
    So ye grow squeamish, Gods, and sniff at heaven. M. Arnold.
    Syn. -- Fastidious; dainty; overnice; scrupulous. See Fastidious. -- Squeam"ish*ly, adv. -- Squeam"ish*ness, n.

Webster 1913