the.com/wince
the body's tiny flinch that confesses what your poker face won't
means to flinch or recoil slightly, often with a tightening of the face, in reaction to pain, embarrassment, or anticipated unpleasantness
from From Middle English wincen, "to kick or shy away," likely borrowed from Old North French wencir/wenchier, "to wince or recoil" — a cousin of words meaning "to turn aside." It began life describing a horse's skittish startle or kick, then narrowed over centuries into the small human shrink we know now: the body's involuntary turning-away from something it would rather not meet.
- split-second
- Reflex fires faster than conscious thought can stop it
- empathy
- People wince watching others get hurt
- facial muscles
- Orbicularis oculi clenches to shield the eyes
- origin
- From Old French to recoil or shrink back
- contagious
- Anticipated pain triggers it before contact lands
for instance
patrick swayze in ghost — actor visibly winced during pottery wheel scene due to actual heat from the kiln