cringeworthy

Or cringe-wor·thy

[krinj-wur-thee]

adjective

1. causing a reaction or feeling of embarrassment, awkwardness, or discomfort.

   They exchanged glances at the show’s cringeworthy attempts at humor.

Other Word Forms

• cringeworthiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cringeworthy¹

First recorded in 1975–80; cringe ( def. ) + -worthy ( def. )

Example Sentences

Bondi’s resemblance to the blonde brat from millennial movie lore wasn’t just cringeworthy in a woman pushing 60.

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Bondi’s resemblance to the blonde brat from millennial movie lore wasn’t just cringeworthy in a woman pushing 60.

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But the one that arrives at the end of the ninth season’s first batch of episodes, now streaming, is perhaps the most cringeworthy, and a sobering reminder of how the show’s fantasy premise doesn’t always triumph over the realities of dating.

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His misguided approach - often aped on the Accidentally Partridge social media account, which shares cringeworthy clips of public figures - is "provocative" but, Coogan hopes, "never mean-spirited."

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“For Gavin Newsom, it’s all distraction and deflection. Instead of addressing the $283 million price tag taxpayers are stuck with for his partisan power grab, he’s hosting a cringeworthy webinar packed with DC politicians, out-of-state influencers, and irrelevant podcasters, all lining up to applaud his gerrymandered maps,” Millan Patterson said in a statement Tuesday.

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