winced

[ winst ]

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of wince ¹.

Word History and Origins

Origin of winced¹

First recorded in 1630–40; winc(e) ¹( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the past tense; winc(e) ¹( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the past participle

Example Sentences

He winced when I brought up a more recent example—Jesse Helms, the hard-right senator from North Carolina who was a television pundit before winning election in 1972.

From Slate

He winced when he swung the bat.

From Los Angeles Times

As I parked my car and winced at the sight of a dead bird nearby, I remembered that Latinos were the majority of victims in four of the 10 worst mass shootings in modern memory: El Paso; the 2022 Uvalde school massacre in Texas; the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in 2016; a McDonald’s in San Ysidro in 1984.

From Los Angeles Times

With two out and two runners on base in the second inning while trailing 3-0, Ohtani fouled a ball off his knee and he grabbed the knee and winced in pain.

From Los Angeles Times

I initially winced at the religiosity of it.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• back off
• blanch
• cower
• cringe
• flinch
• grimace
• recoil