as in to wince
to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust
there are some patients who flinch at the mere sight of a needle
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
2
as in recoil
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of flinch
Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 20 Aug. 2025
Max didn’t bark or flinch, just quietly accepted the love being offered to him.
—Ashley Vega, People.com, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flinch
Verb
The shock of it made her flinch.
—Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
Noun
The Colorado Rapids aren’t flinching in the midst of a wild summer transfer window.
—Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 20 Aug. 2025
Max didn’t bark or flinch, just quietly accepted the love being offered to him.
—Ashley Vega, People.com, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flinch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flinch
Verb
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Aramayo is excellent in the role, easily transversing between John’s pain and confusion and a wincing humor about the whole situation.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Sideline reporter Stacey Dales said on the YouTube broadcast that Worthy was wincing in pain and went to the X-ray room.—
Jesse Newell,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In an alarming sight for an already-banged-up inside linebacker room, Greenlaw pulled up with a grimace after covering J.K. Dobbins on an LB-RB one-on-one pass-coverage drill.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
31 July 2025
-
In one image, Scales, who had won a Military Cross for his bravery at the front, wears a crooked grimace that suggests recent anguish.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
13 July 2025
Noun
-
And, every time, opponents recoil in horror—not at the ethics violation, but at the idea that members may have to pay taxes if they are forced to sell their holdings.—
Andrew Leahey,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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Nutting will recoil at paying Skenes exorbitant salaries in arbitration, and almost certainly seek a massive return in a trade before losing him as a free agent.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
It's not cringe to care about something and try!—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Pub purists, meanwhile, are cringing.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Firefighters batter Stephen Cullen stared up at Dullaghan from the plate with a frown on his face before giving the fan a thumbs down.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Luckily, life is going to improve in nearly every way going forward, so proceed with a smile rather than a frown.—
Kyle Thomas,
People.com,
10 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Barely any other media in recent times has given me an instant shock of glee or revulsion like this absurd anarcho-cartoon being stretched and squeezed to its most grotesque and wholesome clickbait limits.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
10 Sep. 2025
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Ann Lee’s impoverished childhood in Manchester is spent dreaming of service to God while feeling revulsion at the physical facts of life.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Klára tries to keep him away but Berend, a sweaty, sour beast of a man who wears a permanent scowl, insistently shoves his way into the household.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Aug. 2025
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Serve up in a stemmed glass, and garnish with a scowl, or perhaps a war story.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
11 July 2025
Noun
-
And maybe, just maybe, a horseshoe-moustached, hardened rocker with a booming growl will quietly leave a grocery store tomorrow to take his mushroom mocha milk back home.—
Jason Newman,
Rolling Stone,
29 Aug. 2025
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His first task: trying to figure out the source of the bizarre, threatening low growl picked up by the comms system.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
21 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flinch. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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