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
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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
Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
But Wall Street barely flinched Monday, opting to tune out the Trump show and stay focused on the relatively cheerier programming on the horizon: a strong corporate earnings season beginning this week and signs that the economy is still in decent shape.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 15 July 2025
Use a regular bullpen pitcher, and spare us, your fans, from flinching.
—Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
With four hands and 610 pounds locked on his chest, Allen did not flinch, holding the point of attack and freeing edge rusher Nik Bonitto to get around Garett Bolles.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flinch
Noun
In the wild, divers have talked about seeing electric rays zapping curious sharks that got too close, sending them flinching or swimming off.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
But Wall Street barely flinched Monday, opting to tune out the Trump show and stay focused on the relatively cheerier programming on the horizon: a strong corporate earnings season beginning this week and signs that the economy is still in decent shape.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 15 July 2025
Use a regular bullpen pitcher, and spare us, your fans, from flinching.
—Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
With four hands and 610 pounds locked on his chest, Allen did not flinch, holding the point of attack and freeing edge rusher Nik Bonitto to get around Garett Bolles.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flinch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flinch
Verb
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But lawmakers on both sides are wincing at the thought of a full-year funding patch, particularly as the government operates under its third continuous stopgap.—
Aris Folley,
The Hill,
5 Aug. 2025
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In Monday night’s first quarter after falling to the court, Haliburton winced and grabbed his lower right leg.—
Shakeia Taylor,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Noun
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But he would be called things, and strangers would sometimes eavesdrop on our conversations and grimace.—
Tina Knowles,
Vogue,
21 Apr. 2025
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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
Noun
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Players can also mount weapons across cover to reduce recoil, making weapons fire more accurately.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
7 Aug. 2025
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And by lowering recoil and shot flinch, suppressors boost accuracy and weapon handling, enhancing a firearm’s effectiveness in self-defense.—
Nick Sibilla,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
Verb
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Some laugh, others cringe — but there’s always a reaction.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
30 July 2025
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What is transgressive, indie and anti-woke today will one day be normie, derivative, and cringe.—
John McDermott,
Rolling Stone,
6 July 2025
Noun
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The aim was to encode the various nuanced ways human faces transmit states of mind, and then to visualize them; smiles and frowns are the barest beginning.—
Dan Rockmore,
New Yorker,
9 Aug. 2025
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Byrne has never been better, sharper, or more intimidating as a screen presence, carrying the movie with squints and frowns.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The origin story of his revulsion involves a late-night infomercial for a stick blender.—
Josh Miller,
Southern Living,
26 July 2025
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Images of skeletal, starving Gazans, including children, have harked back to the darkest corners of the twentieth century, stirring Western revulsion – if not yet concrete action – toward the humanitarian crisis.—
Joseph Ataman,
CNN Money,
24 July 2025
Noun
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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
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Balthazar, played in a hipster fade and with a puppy-dog scowl by Jaeden Martell, is a New York rich kid with a life coach and a divorced mother (Jennifer Ehle) who’s too busy throwing political cocktail parties to pay him much attention.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
10 June 2025
Noun
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Even the cats and the larger dog weren’t safe from her protective growls.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
11 July 2025
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The 120-pound canine's confusion resulted in a growl and a warning bite, Kashen told Newsweek via TikTok.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flinch. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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