as in to flinch
to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust
winced at the movie's graphic depiction of combat injuries
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Recent Examples of wince
Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
Mindful of the land mines around establishing novel hunting seasons, and wincing over rejection of crane hunting on at least two previous occasions, promoters of the sandhill hunt were intentional about building stakeholder support for a season.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 17 Jan. 2025
Towns, a righty, winced and grabbed his shooting hand but remained in the game.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2025
Nix played every snap in the game, but he was seen wincing in the fourth quarter after throwing a touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton and wore a wrap on the sideline for part of the game.
—Nick Kosmider, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wince
Verb
Then, midway through the second set, the defending Australian Open champion winced when running down a ball from the Danish No. 13 seed on his backhand side.
—Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
Mindful of the land mines around establishing novel hunting seasons, and wincing over rejection of crane hunting on at least two previous occasions, promoters of the sandhill hunt were intentional about building stakeholder support for a season.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 17 Jan. 2025
Towns, a righty, winced and grabbed his shooting hand but remained in the game.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2025
Nix played every snap in the game, but he was seen wincing in the fourth quarter after throwing a touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton and wore a wrap on the sideline for part of the game.
—Nick Kosmider, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wince
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wince
Verb
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But the Clippers didn’t flinch, shaking off an early 12-point deficit to beat the Cavs, 132-119, in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.—
Janis Carr,
Orange County Register,
19 Mar. 2025
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But at that moment, looking up from the examination table at Tina, her dark hair framing her unsmiling face, Lilian neither hesitated nor flinched.—
Yiyun Li,
The New Yorker,
9 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Those could also prove useful, but will face the challenge of distinguishing facial expressions unique to pain rather than similar grimaces related to being hungry.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
3 May 2017
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In the movie, the monkey is a two-foot-tall sculpted plastic model whose arms bang up and down on a drum, as his mouth opens up to bare its teeth in a violent grimace.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Arab states recoil at the notion of forcibly displacing Gazans and fear the destabilizing potential of absorbing Palestinian refugees.—
Eric Cortellessa,
TIME,
13 Feb. 2025
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But Tesla shares started really recoiling on January 21, the day after President Trump’s inauguration, when Musk took over as head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).—
Matt Durot,
Forbes,
18 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Shuffling feet, frowns or darting eyes signal discomfort and anxiety.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes,
14 Jan. 2025
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Below are some of the stocks JPMorgan frowns on: Vaccine maker Novavax is rated underweight by JPMorgan analysts.—
Pia Singh,
CNBC,
13 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Gellar chatted with Glamour about the advice her Dexter costar Michael C. Hall told her about returning to an iconic role, her one film her kids don’t find cringe, and her rules for re-creating 90s fashion.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
17 Mar. 2025
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And everyone would cringe at the thought of disappointing their colleagues.—
Justin Gest,
Newsweek,
10 Feb. 2025
Noun
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A little over an hour later, Zalatoris walked out of the scoring building with a tight scowl.—
Brody Miller,
The Athletic,
16 Mar. 2025
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Dave comes off like a human scowl, and requires little of Liu besides completely tamping down any sense of natural charisma the Shang-Chi star has.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Foxes use a variety of calls, including barks, howls, yaps, and growls.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
4 Mar. 2025
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Objects are often askew and out of frame, and everyday sounds like a toilet flush or blinds being pulled assume a low, staticky growl, as though frights fueled by childish imagination.—
Gayle Sequeira,
Vulture,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In her trademark cat-eye glasses, with her bitter-lemon moue, Hoffman, as Moth, is comedy just standing there; Harada, as Mustardseed, a warmth machine.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
24 Oct. 2021
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Not just any moue, either, but a supermoue—a whole cultural attitude distilled into a single boffff.—
Anthony Lane,
The New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Wince.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wince. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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