CRINGED Synonyms: 42 Similar and Opposite Words

cringed

verb

past tense of cringe

as in winced

to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust gruesome crime scene photos that made several jurors cringe

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in flinched

to draw back or crouch down in fearful submission the puppy cringed when his master raised the rolled-up newspaper

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of cringed Mingione cringed when asked if any of his players had gotten hurt by a hit by pitch. — Mitch Light, New York Times, 22 May 2026 For a decade, viewers have cringed at Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke’s rocky relationship, the dénouement of which is currently playing out on season ten of Summer House. — Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2026 And the mother of Carter, a 5-year-old boy, cringed in fear when Carter (who was celebrating his birthday) was approached at a neighborhood bike park by a group of much older boys. — Chris John Amorosino, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2026 The couple cringed at the attention. — Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026 As Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe joined The View Thursday for an interview about his role in the new NBC comedy The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, the superstar cringed when the show cued up a clip of one of his early auditions to play the boy wizard. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Mar. 2026 San Jose Jazz Executive Director Brendan Rawson worked on those early indexes as a researcher and cringed at seeing some of his early graphics work from the ’90s shown on the big screen. — Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2026 You get cringed out when things are earnest or something, but then the music is a way to channel it. — Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 25 Nov. 2025 During a hospital stay, Roy’s enfeebled mother fixates on the caste and religious affiliations of the doctors treating her—the sort of thing that will be familiar to anyone who has cringed at a diminished elder’s unfiltered prejudices. — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cringed

Verb

The French superstar winced after a free kick sailed over the goalpost in the 88th minute.

— Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 July 2026
The original originalists, the Constitution’s framers, would have winced.

— George F. Will, Washington Post, 1 July 2026

Definition of winced

Verb

Sipp slightly flinched his left arm before throwing a pitch to Emmanuel Burriss, allowing Miguel Tejada to score and sending San Francisco to its fourth straight win.

— Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
The kid never flinched, played almost every game.

— David Aldridge, New York Times, 21 June 2026

Definition of flinched

Verb

The other customers cowered in the corners, while crowds formed at the windows outside, shrieking and recording the scene on their phones.

— Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 10 July 2026
But Wednesday night, they were handed a harsh lesson from a true contender — one that smelled blood against a team that cowered and played scared to death from the 20-minute mark on.

— Michael Russo, New York Times, 14 May 2026