See cringe in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II
verb
To draw away involuntarily, usually out of fear or disgust:
blench1, flinch, quail, recoil, shrink, shy1, start, wince. See approach, seekTo support slavishly every opinion or suggestion of a superior:
bootlick, fawn, grovel, kowtow, slaver, toady, truckle. (Informal) apple-polish, brownnose, cotton. (Slang) suck up. Idioms: curry favor, dance attendance, kiss someone's feet, lick someone's boots. See over
noun
An act of drawing back in an involuntary or instinctive fashion:
flinch, recoil, shrink, wince. See approach, seek
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