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flinch

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word flinch distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of flinch are blench, quail, recoil, shrink, and wince. While all these words mean "to draw back in fear or distaste," flinch implies a failure to endure pain or face something dangerous or frightening with resolution.

faced her accusers without flinching

When can blench be used instead of flinch?

While in some cases nearly identical to flinch, blench implies fainthearted flinching.

stood their ground without blenching

When would quail be a good substitute for flinch?

The words quail and flinch are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, quail suggests shrinking and cowering in fear.

quailed before the apparition

In what contexts can recoil take the place of flinch?

In some situations, the words recoil and flinch are roughly equivalent. However, recoil implies a start or movement away through shock, fear, or disgust.

recoiled at the suggestion of stealing

When might shrink be a better fit than flinch?

While the synonyms shrink and flinch are close in meaning, shrink suggests an instinctive recoil through sensitiveness, scrupulousness, or cowardice.

shrank from the unpleasant truth

When is wince a more appropriate choice than flinch?

Although the words wince and flinch have much in common, wince suggests a slight involuntary physical reaction (such as a start or recoiling).

winced in pain

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • When cosmic rays — including, in part, plain old protons from the Sun’s solar wind — strike the Moon, the recoil from those heavy elements knocks them into an excited state.
    Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Lighter dark matter particles wouldn't have the heft to cause a nucleus of xenon or argon to recoil.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • During a hospital stay, Roy’s enfeebled mother fixates on the caste and religious affiliations of the doctors treating her—the sort of thing that will be familiar to anyone who has cringed at a diminished elder’s unfiltered prejudices.
    Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
  • On the other side are GOP lawmakers cringing at the departure of so many CDC officials.
    Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • 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
  • 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
Noun
  • Trump’s revulsion for math that contradicts his narrative.
    Chris Brennan, USA Today, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Revelations about how bots could talk to children on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and its Meta AI assistant were met with revulsion.
    Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 16 Aug. 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
  • 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
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Flinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flinch. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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