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.

Someone might have been cringing somewhere, but it wasn’t Carly.

From Salon • Dec. 31, 2015

Now, on this early November morning, the Herald’s night editor must have been cringing as he had the still-warm draft of the first edition sent to his mercurial boss.

From Slate • Jul. 24, 2014

I can imagine now how embarrassed my mother would have been, cringing and laughing to cover up her cringing, if he’d made this declaration in front of her theatre friends.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 20, 2011

Somewhere on the premises, surrounded by his battalion of security guards and the well-remunerated yes-men who watched him stagger down the path to self-destruction, Woods must have been cringing.

From The Guardian • Apr. 7, 2010

Ever since, she wrote in 1997, "I have been cringing."

From Time Magazine Archive