The difference between Cringe and Flinch

When used as nouns, cringe means a posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling, whereas flinch means a reflexive jerking away.

When used as verbs, cringe means to bow or crouch in servility, whereas flinch means to make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus.


check bellow for the other definitions of Cringe and Flinch

  1. Cringe as a noun:

    A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.

    Examples:

    "He glanced with a cringe at the mess on his desk."

  2. Cringe as a noun (dialect):

    A crick.

  3. Cringe as a noun:

    An embarrassing event, item or behaviour which causes an onlooker to cringe.

  1. Cringe as a verb (dated, intransitive):

    To bow or crouch in servility.

  2. Cringe as a verb (intransitive):

    To shrink, cower, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment.

    Examples:

    "He cringed as the bird collided with the window."

  3. Cringe as a verb (transitive, obsolete):

    To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort.

  1. Flinch as a noun:

    A reflexive jerking away.

    Examples:

    "My eye doctor hates the flinch I have every time he tries to get near my eyes."

  2. Flinch as a noun (croquet):

    The slipping of the foot from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

  1. Flinch as a verb (intransitive):

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

  2. Flinch as a verb:

    To dodge (a question), to avoid an unpleasant task or duty

  3. Flinch as a verb (croquet):

    To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

  1. Flinch as a verb:

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