flinch
verb
[ ˈflɪn(t)ʃ ]
• make a quick, nervous movement as an instinctive reaction to fear, pain, or surprise.
• "she flinched at the acidity in his voice"
Similar:
wince,
start,
shy (away),
recoil,
shrink,
pull back,
back away,
shy away,
draw back,
withdraw,
blench,
cringe,
squirm,
quiver,
shudder,
shiver,
tremble,
quake,
shake,
quail,
cower,
waver,
falter,
hesitate,
get cold feet,
blanch,
Opposite:
stand firm,
flinch
noun
• an act of flinching.
• "‘Don't call me that,’ he said with a flinch"
Origin:
mid 16th century (in the sense ‘slink or sneak off’): from Old French flenchir ‘turn aside’, of West Germanic origin and related to German lenken ‘to guide, steer’.
