1
as in to wince
to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust
gruesome crime scene photos that made several jurors cringe
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cringe
In it, her fellow students can be seen gasping, covering their faces and cringing.
—
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 30 Nov. 2025
Meanwhile, on forums more focused on activism, his supporters cringe at how this phenomenon fuels the characterization of anybody who supports anything to do with Mangione as a fangirl.
—Lorena O'Neil, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2025
Are there moments that will make architectural dogmatists cringe?
—Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Nov. 2025
Encouraged to see Jones sorta respond, Mackie kept babbling on and on and on about his dad, unaware that everyone else in the room was cringing.
—Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cringe
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 30 Nov. 2025
Meanwhile, on forums more focused on activism, his supporters cringe at how this phenomenon fuels the characterization of anybody who supports anything to do with Mangione as a fangirl.
—Lorena O'Neil, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2025
Are there moments that will make architectural dogmatists cringe?
—Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Nov. 2025
Encouraged to see Jones sorta respond, Mackie kept babbling on and on and on about his dad, unaware that everyone else in the room was cringing.
—Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cringe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cringe
Verb
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The hard-drinking, hyper-sensitive Fitzgerald himself would have winced at any of the five adaptations of The Great Gatsby.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
22 Jan. 2026
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Charleigh inwardly winced and froze in place, hand still on the knob.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But as his show became a pop culture punchline and an enduring ratings force, Povich says the person closest to him never flinched.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026
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Adi flinched but passed it to him.—
Jonathan Miles,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters Software stocks on Thursday slid deeper into an ongoing intense sell-off this year as investors recoiled from the sector on growing fears that artificial intelligence could upend many firms' business models.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
29 Jan. 2026
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At some point, each of us is faced with a clingy child, a dramatic friend, a partner who recoils at the first hint of intimacy, a volatile parent or a controlling boss — in short, a difficult relationship.—
Jessica A. Stern,
The Conversation,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In some sense, there’s a palpable disgust that this community has responded not by cowering, not by submitting, not by being grateful for this sort of armed invasion that is meant to stress everyone out, but by trying to foil it.—
Hanna Rosin,
The Atlantic,
25 Jan. 2026
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Goetz saw two female passengers on the ground, paralyzed and cowering in fear.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cringe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cringe. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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