as in recoils
to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust
winced at the movie's graphic depiction of combat injuries
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winces
Verb
-
Bingo momentarily flinches, and Atlas rolls onto his back in response.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Aug. 2025 -
Months later, Anderson, 50, still avoids crowds, doesn’t go out after dark and flinches when the doorbell rings.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Over the course of an hour, a virtuosic guitarist, a singer, and three dancers performed a program of mournful music and percussive dance, their faces set in serious frowns—an integral part of the performance.—
Fiona Mozley,
Travel + Leisure,
4 Oct. 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
Verb
-
Payton cringes at the mention of a sophomore slump, that defenses will figure out Nix.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
While Shrek pouts about missing his solo ogre days, the dastardly Rumpelstiltskin takes advantage, offering him a contract to relive that romanticized time in his life — for a day.—
Skyler Trepel September 1,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The result has been a seemingly endless run of East Washington Street roadwork and traffic snarls from Alabama Street downtown to I-465.—
Ryan Murphy,
IndyStar,
25 Sep. 2025
-
There was talk of traffic snarls and strain on the power grid.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
For instance, close follow-up lowers hospital readmission rates and helps prevent adverse events.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
-
With a rate cut, the prime rate lowers, too, and the interest rate on your credit card debt is likely to follow.—
Jessica Dickler,
CNBC,
17 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Winces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winces. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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