cringing C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈkrɪndʒɪŋ/ UK /ˈkrɪndʒɪŋ/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj behaving in an excessively servile or fearful way His cringing apologies only deepened her contempt. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · behaving in an excessively... servileobsequiousfawninggrovelingcoweringsycophantic ↔ Opposites bolddefiantassertive Word family Related forms cringecringer Etymology AI details Present participle of 'cringe', from Middle English 'crengen', related to Old English 'cringan' ('to give way, bend'). cringan Old English *krenganą Proto-Germanic View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # cringing **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈkrɪndʒɪŋ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈkrɪndʒɪŋ/ ## Meanings 1. behaving in an excessively servile or fearful way ## Examples - His cringing apologies only deepened her contempt. ## Synonyms - servile - obsequious - fawning - groveling - cowering - sycophantic ## Antonyms - bold - defiant - assertive ## Related Forms - cringe - cringer ## Roots and Affixes - Root: cringan - Root: *krenganą ## Etymology Present participle of 'cringe', from Middle English 'crengen', related to Old English 'cringan' ('to give way, bend'). ## AI Etymology Cringing is the present participle of 'cringe', from Middle English 'crengen', related to Old English 'cringan' ('to give way, bend'). Important recorded forms include cringan (Old English) and *krenganą (Proto-Germanic). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers behaving in an excessively servile or fearful way. The wider family includes related words such as cringe and cringer. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown