cringe
Americanverb (used without object)
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to shrink back, bend, or crouch, especially in fear, pain, or servility; cower: They cringed and bowed before the king.
She cringed in a corner and started praying.
They cringed and bowed before the king.
-
to feel very embarrassed or awkward; react with discomfort.
Some of us cringed at the speaker’s tactless comments.
-
to seek favor by acting in a servile way; fawn.
He has never cringed to anyone—in fact, he can sometimes be a bully.
noun
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an act or instance of shrinking back, bending, or crouching.
The gunshots elicited a cringe of terror.
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an instance of being very embarrassed, awkward, or uncomfortable.
Some of his outfits are bizarre enough to induce a cringe or two.
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servile or fawning deference.
adjective
verb
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to shrink or flinch, esp in fear or servility
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to behave in a servile or timid way
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informal
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to wince in embarrassment or distaste
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to experience a sudden feeling of embarrassment or distaste
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noun
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the act of cringing
-
subservience to overseas cultural standards
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cringe
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English crengen, crenchen (transitive); Old English crencean, crencgean (unattested), causative of cringan, crincan “to yield, fall (in battle)”
Explanation
When you cringe, your body language shows you don't like what you see and hear. You close your eyes and grimace. You may even jerk your body away from the offensive sight or sound, like the old picture of you in an "awkward stage" that makes you cringe whenever you see it. Whether it's a song you hate or someone mentioning an embarrassing moment from the past, you cringe at things that are unpleasant. If you think about the way your body involuntarily flinches or bends in those situations, you won’t be surprised to learn that the word cringe can be traced back to the Old English word cringan, meaning “give way, fall (in battle), become bent.” That’s exactly what your body does when you cringe!
Vocabulary lists containing cringe
The Lingo of Body Language
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"Of Mice and Men"
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List 13
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Mr. Epstein laments the “excessive autonomy I constructed for myself,” it is hard not to cringe thinking of the many people in this world whose lives truly would be better with fewer constraints.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
I’ve also seen much younger viewers cringe at the suggestion of staring at anything rendered in gray scale that has a running time longer than a “Twilight Zone” episode.
From Salon • May 8, 2026
But the first time I transcribed an interview I’d conducted with my breathy, inconsistent voice, I felt like one giant cringe.
From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026
I look back at it now and I cringe to myself whenever I’ve seen that episode.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
She tried not to cringe as the little girl slid down from the bed with one finger still in her nostril.
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
