EN

Synonyms for flinch

  • verb

Most common

cringe recoil wince cower shy away bat an eyelid startle

All synonyms

Verb

1. Wince — to make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus; to cringe; to blench

wince, recoil, shrink, cringe, cower, falter, swerve, shirk, quail, withdraw, start, draw back, funk, blench, squinch

Other

startle, shy away, jump, re-treat, bat an eyelid

Definitions

  1. v. 1

    To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus; to cringe; to blench.

Related words

Other spellings
flench

Forms

Past participle
flinched
e.g. flinched → winced, recoiled, cringed, cowered…

Example sentences

  • cringe I may be cringe, but you're mean, and that's worse.
  • recoil Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
  • wince You don't have to wince like that. I'll fix it so it doesn't hurt.
  • cower The noise caused Lorenzo to cower in fear.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
flinchrising
cringerising
recoilfalling
wincerising
cowerrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters
jump1, funk1
5 letters
start1, quail1, shirk1, wince1, cower2
6 letters
shrink1, cringe1, recoil2, swerve1, falter2, blench
7 letters
startle2, squinch
8 letters
withdraw2

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (cower2 = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français
broncher
Deutsch
Aufbegehren