# cringe

Pronunciation: say "KRINJ" /kɹɪnd͡ʒ/

## Verb

1. To feel an inward rush of disgust, embarrassment, or fear; especially, to feel deeply embarrassed.
   - Simple: To feel a sharp wave of embarrassment, disgust, or fear inside.
   - _Readers cringe at the clumsy dialogue in his early novels._
   - _He cringed inwardly when his boss mispronounced the client's name._
3. To flinch, recoil, or shrink back, as in reaction to disgust, embarrassment, or fear.
   - Simple: To pull back or shrink away because you feel disgust, fear, or embarrassment.
   - _He cringed and stepped back as the dog lunged at the fence._
   - _Soldiers cringe instinctively when shells burst nearby._
6. To behave in a servile or fawning way toward someone, often by bowing or crouching low.
   - Simple: To act too humble and eager to please someone powerful, sometimes bowing low.
   - _Terrified of his temper, the courtiers would cringe before the young emperor and praise his every word._
   - _He cringed before the committee, agreeing with everything they said._

## Adjective

2. So awkward, uncool, or embarrassing that it makes onlookers feel secondhand embarrassment. *(slang)*
   - Simple: So awkward or uncool that it makes other people feel embarrassed.
   - _The influencer's forced jokes came across as deeply cringe to most viewers._
   - _Half the comments called the marketing campaign cringe._

## Noun

4. Content, especially online, awkward or embarrassing enough to make onlookers feel secondhand embarrassment. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Online posts or behavior so awkward that they make other people feel embarrassed.
   - _That forum is dedicated to collecting the internet's finest cringe._
   - _His acceptance speech was peak cringe._
5. A gesture or posture in which someone recoils or shrinks back.
   - Simple: A small movement of pulling back or shrinking away from something.
   - _A visible cringe ran through the crowd at the gory scene._
   - _She answered with a cringe and a step backward._
8. An act or habitual disposition of fawning, servile submission.
   - Simple: A low bow or humble act done to please someone more powerful.
   - _The courtier's practiced cringe earned him no real respect._
   - _He responded to power with a cringe rather than a backbone._

## Interjection

7. Said in reaction to something awkward or embarrassing enough to cause secondhand embarrassment. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Said as a reaction when something is awkward or embarrassing to see.
   - _Cringe. Nobody dances like that at a wedding anymore._
   - _He watched the clip, typed "cringe," and kept scrolling._

## Verb

9. To draw a part of the body in close, or to screw up or wrinkle the face or another feature. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To pull a part of your body in close, or to wrinkle up your face.
10. To bow or crouch servilely before someone, or to accompany someone with fawning, cringing manners. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To bow low before someone more powerful, or to walk beside them while bowing to please them.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A painful muscular cramp or spasm in some part of the body; a crick.

## Origin

Middle English crengen, the source of the verb, meant to bend in a haughty manner or to condescend. It came from an Old English causative form meaning "to cause to fall or turn," and goes back through Proto-Germanic to the Proto-Indo-European root *grenǵʰ- ("to turn"). Danish krænge, Dutch krengen and Swedish kränga are cognates, crinkle is a doublet, and the noun and adjective were formed from the verb by zero derivation.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cringe (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).