cringe C2+ Topic:Emotions & Feelings US /krɪndʒ/ UK /krɪndʒ/ See IPA manual 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... recoilwinceflinchcowershrinkblenchquail ↔ Opposites confrontface Word family Derived forms cringingcringercringeworthy Related forms crinkle Etymology AI details 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 External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # cringe **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** verb **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