EN

Synonyms for recoil

26 synonyms
2 antonyms
2 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

flinch quail wince shrink bounce spring

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Flinch

flinch, quail, wince, shrink, funk, cringe, draw back, falter, blench, squinch

2. Bounce

bounce, spring, rebound, ricochet, spring back, bound, resile, reverberate dated

Other

backlash, re-act

Noun

kick, kick-back, repercussion, reaction, back fire, resilience

Antonyms

All antonyms of recoil →

Definitions

v. 1
To pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment.
He recoiled in disgust when he saw the mess.
v. 2
Of a firearm: to quickly push back when fired.
n. 1
A starting or falling back; a rebound; a shrinking.
the recoil of nature, or of the blood

Related words

Phrases: recoil start

Forms

Plural: recoils → kicks, kick-backs, repercussions, reactions…
Past participle: recoiled
e.g. recoiled → flinched, quailed, winced, funked…

Example sentences

flinch He tried not to flinch as the needle approached.
spring When spring comes, the days get longer day by day.
bounce Carlos's parents rented a bounce house for the party.
backlash The bribery scandal created a backlash overseas.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
recoil		falling
flinch		rising
blench		steady
squinch		steady
spring		steady
bounce		rising

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

By length

4 letters: kick¹, funk¹
5 letters: bound¹, quail¹, wince¹
6 letters: spring¹, bounce¹, shrink¹, cringe¹, flinch¹, falter², blench, resile
7 letters: rebound², squinch
8 letters: reaction³, backlash², ricochet³
10 letters: resilience⁴
11 letters: reverberate⁴
12 letters: repercussion⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (falter² = 2 syllables).