flinch
/flɪnt͡ʃ/
"flinch" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flinch” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #31,990 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #31,990
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A reflexive jerking away.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | flinch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /flɪnt͡ʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #31,990 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “flinch” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for flinch is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /flɪnt͡ʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #31,990 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for flinch, with forms such as "fflinch", "filnch", and "flicnh". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "flint", "fling", "French", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French flenchir (“to bend”), of Germanic origin. Compare Middle High German lenken (“to bend”). Attested in English since the 16th century. The correct English form is flinch, spelled F-L-I-N-C-H.
Definition
- 1A reflexive jerking away.
- 2The slipping of the foot from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.
Etymology
From Middle French flenchir (“to bend”), of Germanic origin. Compare Middle High German lenken (“to bend”). Attested in English since the 16th century.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fflinch,filnch,flicnh,flincch,flinchh,flinhc,flinnch,fllinch,flnich,lfinch
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flinch - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “flinch”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-L-I-N-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /flɪnt͡ʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “flint” - see the side-by-side comparison. flinch vs flint
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.