as in shrinking
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1
as in wincing
to draw back in fear, pain, or disgust
gruesome crime scene photos that made several jurors cringe
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Recent Examples of cringing
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2026
The movie’s real sympathetic figure is Hall, played by Dacre Montgomery, who spends most of the movie cringing and flinching, while trying not to move.
—Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
In it, her fellow students can be seen gasping, covering their faces and cringing.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 30 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
But the aftermath of the videos left many Democrats cringing, Republican candidates pouncing, and political observers wondering how voters would respond.
—Nicole Nixon, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2025
The cringing mortifications and unsettling unreality make the series a tough sit.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
Pub purists, meanwhile, are cringing.
—Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2025
On the other side are GOP lawmakers cringing at the departure of so many CDC officials.
—Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
Dermatologists are literally cringing about it.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2026
The movie’s real sympathetic figure is Hall, played by Dacre Montgomery, who spends most of the movie cringing and flinching, while trying not to move.
—Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
In it, her fellow students can be seen gasping, covering their faces and cringing.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 30 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
But the aftermath of the videos left many Democrats cringing, Republican candidates pouncing, and political observers wondering how voters would respond.
—Nicole Nixon, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2025
The cringing mortifications and unsettling unreality make the series a tough sit.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
Pub purists, meanwhile, are cringing.
—Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2025
On the other side are GOP lawmakers cringing at the departure of so many CDC officials.
—Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cringing
Adjective
-
Re-wash and dry the garment, using these tips to avoid re-shrinking, to prevent a residue from the conditioner from setting.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
At times, she’s been shown wincing on the bench.—
Hailey Salvian,
New York Times,
13 May 2026
-
Turning up the music in get car so that her daughter won’t hear, the grandmother gets out the car, takes a revolver out of her bag, and wincing and turning away, shoots the animal in the head.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Knorr and other team officials were in the room, but Stammen helped lead it without flinching.—
Dennis Lin,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The Alpha Wave acquisition suggests the Gulf’s biggest dealmakers aren’t flinching at opportunities in the US or being slowed by the war in Iran.—
Kelsey Warner,
semafor.com,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Coinbase’s effort, filled with little nuances and created to emulate the experience of a videogame, might have people welcoming another look rather than recoiling at seeing the spot for the 15th time in a period of just a few days.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Then, as things dragged on, Goldberg could be seen recoiling and wincing in her chair — and, at one point, fully collapsing backward in protest.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The Wolves will retreat to their corner, bandage some wounds and aim to actually come out swinging Friday after cowering in the corner for the bulk of Game 2.—
Jace Frederick,
Twin Cities,
7 May 2026
-
Appraisal will rely on the extent of your Radiohead fandom and your identification with creature-characters, often crying or cowering with their head in their hands, who are unremittingly sad and ashamed and embarrassed by the barbarism of simple existence.—
Andy Battaglia,
ARTnews.com,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
Participants will gain skills to develop mutual trust, respect, and mindfulness between Dominant and submissive.—
Rachel del Guidice,
FOXNews.com,
9 May 2026
-
The original plot centered on the arrival of a submissive, quiet mail-order bride and her father from China, who sneaked into the country to marry a nightclub owner who had no idea that his mother had brought the girl over for him.—
Marla Jo Fisher,
Daily News,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Neither is the machine that, partway through the play, noisily turns the stage into a great berg of foam, which slowly subsumes a resigned Kramer.—
Talya Zax,
The Atlantic,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Her booking photo shows a woman with a tousled bun, hollow cheeks and a resigned expression.—
Raheem Hosseini,
San Francisco Chronicle,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
That amendment had been made a dead letter by Jim Crow state legislatures and an acquiescent Supreme Court.—
Robert D. Bland,
The Conversation,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Trump is the most corrupt and scandal-plagued president since Nixon; indeed, his fiascoes eclipse Nixon’s, but many of them remain mostly or somewhat hidden, thanks in part to a much more acquiescent Republican Congress than the one Nixon had.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cringing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cringing. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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