Standard Lemma guide

collywobbles

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɒlɪwɒb(ə)lz/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈkɑliˌwɑb(ə)lz/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A stomach ache or an upset stomach.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, humorous, informal, plural, plural-only

Examples

  • Petunia’s off school today with a touch of the collywobbles.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bellyache, mulligrubs, tummyache

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Anxiety, fear, uneasiness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, broadly, humorous, informal, plural, plural-only

Examples

  • I don’t like walking through the forest at night. It gives me the collywobbles.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: butterflies, butterflies in one’s stomach, creeps, heebie-jeebies, willies

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

severe gastroenteritis of unknown etiology; characterized by severe colic and vomiting and diarrhea

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cholera morbus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gastroenteritis, stomach flu, intestinal flu

History

Etymology

Probably from colic (“severe pains that grip the abdomen”) + wobble (“unsteady motion”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word derives from colly (“coal dust”) (in the sense of someone becoming ill from breathing in such dust), or that it is a corruption of cholera.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: mahanpuru — (informal, chiefly humorous) stomachache or an upset stomach
  • Finnish: mahanpuru — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness
  • Hungarian: aggodalom — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness
  • Hungarian: aggódás — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness
  • Hungarian: idegesség — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness
  • Hungarian: szorongás — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness
  • Macedonian: мо́рници (mórnici) — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness
  • Macedonian: беспо́којство (bespókojstvo) — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness
  • Russian: мандра́ж (mandráž) — (informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness