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recoiled

verb

past tense of recoil
as in flinched
to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust the social worker tried not to recoil from the sight of the cockroach in the bathtub

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 recoiled The energy measured in the LZ event indicates how much the xenon nucleus recoiled due to the potential interaction with the dark matter. — Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026 When councilman Steve Novick threatened to sue, the Blazers recoiled and became obstinate. — Jason Quick, New York Times, 21 July 2026 Markets recoiled for a moment, then kept climbing, the Nasdaq tripling before the decade was out. — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 23 June 2026 And when the Walmart collaboration arrived in 2007 — a full collection at twenty dollars and under — the industry recoiled once again. — Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026 The young Forster recoiled from the school’s culture of authoritarianism and militaristic chauvinism, which may have found expression in the students’ often appalling attitudes toward their own mothers. — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 7 May 2026 When Paramount debuted a first look at the film in 2019, online commentators recoiled at the speedy hedgehog’s human teeth and odd facial features. — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026 In a flash, the Avs veteran flew right into a sprawling, helpless Ingram, who recoiled at the contact. — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 11 Mar. 2026 After decades of being kissed up to by massive government support, our fossil fuel industries recoiled against President Joe Biden’s support to grow our clean energy sector. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 10 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for recoiled
  1. flinched
  2. winced
  3. cringed
Verb
  • The teen in the green sweatshirt, Williams, momentarily flinched from the gunshot.
    — Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Sipp slightly flinched his left arm before throwing a pitch to Emmanuel Burriss, allowing Miguel Tejada to score and sending San Francisco to its fourth straight win.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
Definition of flinched
Verb
  • Ohtani, who hasn’t pitched since July 3 due to lingering knee and biceps issues, winced in pain throughout his eight-pitch at-bat against reliever Riley O’Brien, seeming to strain himself with every muscle flex, let alone big-league hacks.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • My husband walked into the room and winced as one of the women changed into a perfect re-creation of an American Girl–doll outfit (very theater kid, not his thing).
    — Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of winced
Verb
  • When the outfits hit social media Sunday morning, many Titans fans cringed.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Mingione cringed when asked if any of his players had gotten hurt by a hit by pitch.
    — Mitch Light, New York Times, 22 May 2026
Definition of cringed

Browse Nearby Words

recoil
recoiled
recoiling
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Cite this Entry

“Recoiled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recoiled. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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