QUAILS Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

quails

verb

present tense third-person singular of quail

as in flinches

to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust we quailed when the waiter unexpectedly presented us with a hindquarter of frog's legs

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in cringes

to draw back or crouch down in fearful submission brave resisters who did not quail before the tyrant's iron hand

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for quails

Verb

Warner flinches not about a birthday that is often associated with the beginning of decline.

— Dan Pompei, New York Times, 21 July 2026
Advertisement Throughout the narrative, Johnson never flinches in his portrayal of the wreck, unleashing footage of investigators approaching the car and the victims’ families.

— Jake King-Schreifels, Time, 15 May 2026

Definition of flinches

Verb

The stranger’s curse seems intended to inflict pain not only on the snobbish Anna, who cringes at the slob her son has become, but her pushy husband Walter (Adriano Giannini).

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 7 Sep. 2026
Payton cringes at the mention of a sophomore slump, that defenses will figure out Nix.

— Troy Renck, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2025

Definition of cringes

Verb

LaFleur winces, until learning the Packers were a respectable 16th in core-four performance (as measured by Expected Points Added) last season.

— Mike Sando, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Toxicologist Fernández has stayed in touch with his patient and still winces about how Mark feared reporting the crime to the police could reflect poorly on him professionally.

— Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of winces

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.

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quailing

quails

quaint

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“Quails.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quails. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of quails

verb

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