1
as in winces
to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust
gruesome crime scene photos that made several jurors cringe
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Recent Examples of cringes
Payton cringes at the mention of a sophomore slump, that defenses will figure out Nix.
—
Troy Renck, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2025
Troy Renck, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cringes
Verb
-
The slot formerly occupied by Milli Vanilli will be taken by a dog whistle, being blown into the microphone very loudly so that everyone winces and covers their ears.—
Alexandra Petri,
The Atlantic,
3 June 2026
-
Duncan winces, then again attempts to change the subject.—
Matt Cabral,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Advertisement Throughout the narrative, Johnson never flinches in his portrayal of the wreck, unleashing footage of investigators approaching the car and the victims’ families.—
Jake King-Schreifels,
Time,
15 May 2026
-
DiVincenzo never flinches at adversity.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Looking through scans from his first VIBE story from back in 2012, Rocky laughs at first, then immediately recoils.—
Jeff Ihaza,
VIBE.com,
2 June 2026
-
While JoAnne recoils from Duncan’s machinations, her son Orson finally bottoms out in the supplement pit of the manosphere.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
Anaia, feeling jilted that the letter was addressed only to Racine, cowers in hurt, like a street cat.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
As his party watches silently and cowers, his intentions grow only more naked.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cringes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cringes. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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