cringeworthy

adjective cringe·wor·thy \ ˈkrinj-ˌwər-t͟hē \

|Updated on: 10 Jul 2018

Definition of cringeworthy

: so embarrassing, awkward, or upsetting as to cause one to cringe

a cringeworthy performance

Recent Examples of cringeworthy from the Web

Dillon Francis has been interviewing famous DJs, including Calvin Harris and Alesso, as his serious techno alter ego DJ Hanzel, but this latest episode featuring a quiet Jauz might be the most cringeworthy yet.

— kat bein, Billboard, "Jauz Goes 'One Deeper' With Hilarious Dillon Francis Interview: Watch," 2 July 2018
Nielsen's testimony to Congress in January was also somewhat cringeworthy.

— aaron blake, Washington Post, "The grim desperation of Kirstjen Nielsen," 18 June 2018
This season has certainly seen its share of awkward moments, but this might be the most cringeworthy one of all.

— jamie ballard, Good Housekeeping, "Ryan Seacrest Lands in Hot Water After “Uncomfortable” Exchange With Katy Perry," 15 May 2018
Played by Nash with a cringeworthy sadness and a witty curiosity, Plum struggles to imagine a future for herself that doesn’t figure thinness into the equation.

— hannah giorgis, The Atlantic, "Dietland Envisions a World of Female Revenge," 5 June 2018
Premium Luxury trim, a cringeworthy linguistic redundancy, comes with 22-inch wheels, making for an attractive and unapologetic profile of bigness.

— robert duffer, chicagotribune.com, "Auto review: 2017 Cadillac Escalade full-size SUV comes up short," 12 Sep. 2017
And rightly so: no other show featured more hilariously cringeworthy moments when families hated the results of their makeovers.

— megan friedman, Country Living, "Everything You Need to Know About TLC Bringing Back "Trading Spaces"," 19 July 2017
Neither legend had anything resembling his best golf during the first two rounds of The Players Championship, turning what the PGA Tour hoped would be must-see TV into two days with plenty of cringeworthy moments.

— edgar thompson, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Tiger Woods slips under cut line at TPC, trails leader Webb Simpson by 14 shots," 12 May 2018
Somewhere above, an unseen voyeur watches on banks of television screens, his disembodied voice adding another layer of cringeworthy idiocy.

— vaughn stein, New York Times, "Review: Revenge Goes Sour in ‘Terminal’," 10 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cringeworthy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.