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... servile obsequious fawninggrovelingcoweringsycophantic

Opposites

bold defiant assertive

Word family

Related forms cringecringer

Etymology

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

# 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

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