cringe

C2+ Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /krɪndʒ/ UK /krɪndʒ/ See IPA manual

verb noun

Meanings

1

verb
to recoil or wince in embarrassment or fear

I still cringe when I recall my stammering speech.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to recoil or wince in... recoil wince flinch cower shrinkblenchquail

Opposites

confront face

Word family

Derived forms cringingcringercringeworthy

Related forms crinkle

Etymology

From Middle English 'crengen', a causative related to Old English 'cringan' ('to give way, fall in battle, bend'), from Proto-Germanic '*krenganą'.

cringan Old English *krenganą Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

# cringe

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** krɪndʒ
**IPA (UK):** krɪndʒ

## Meanings
1. to recoil or wince in embarrassment or fear

## Examples
- I still cringe when I recall my stammering speech.

## Synonyms
- recoil
- wince
- flinch
- cower
- shrink
- blench
- quail

## Antonyms
- confront
- face

## Derived Forms
- cringing
- cringer
- cringeworthy

## Related Forms
- crinkle

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cringan
- Root: *krenganą

## Etymology
From Middle English 'crengen', a causative related to Old English 'cringan' ('to give way, fall in battle, bend'), from Proto-Germanic '*krenganą'.

## AI Etymology
Cringe comes from Middle English 'crengen', a causative related to Old English 'cringan' ('to give way, fall in battle, bend'), from Proto-Germanic '*krenganą'. The etymological trail includes Old English cringan and Proto-Germanic *krenganą. As a verb, cringe means to recoil or wince in embarrassment or fear. The same family is visible in derived forms such as cringing, cringer, and cringeworthy and related forms such as crinkle.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

markdown

cringe

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback