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
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
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
Verb
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Wind roared through the open doorway and into the vestibule where I was pressed against the side, wincing at the noise.—
Monisha Rajesh,
Outside,
9 Dec. 2025
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The actress was shown wincing in pain before being escorted out of the ballroom on a stretcher into an ambulance.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In this Tudor renovation, designer Barrie Benson combined 10 different textiles and prints in a single, orderly viewpoint without flinching.—
Zoe Gowen,
Southern Living,
29 Dec. 2025
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Human reflexes naturally protect the eyes; blinking, tearing, and flinching are some of the fastest human reflexes.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
8 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Bassist Franz Lyons, standing nearby onstage, is seen recoiling and shielding his eyes from the dispersing spray.—
Jessica Lynch,
Billboard,
31 Oct. 2025
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Americans are recoiling from the Democratic Party, and even in blue states like Colorado, Democrats are feeling the burn.—
The Denver Post Editorial Board,
Denver Post,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Look to your right, where another patron, clad in the skin of a lion, will be cowering under his seat.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2025
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The kids were heard cowering in fear.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
22 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Even literary heroes had been growing more submissive, Whyte claimed.—
David Merritt Johns,
The Atlantic,
2 Nov. 2025
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Less than a year after Poor Things — and a mere three months since that movie won multiple Oscars — Lanthimos reunited with Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley for a demented triptych organized around dominant-submissive relationships.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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When legends who have left the public eye or dealt with illness pass away, there’s a sort of resigned expectation, but that wasn’t the case with Keaton, who worked all the way to the end before dying at 79.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
14 Oct. 2025
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The Cowboys are only .500, and the expectations for this team from their resigned fan base are so low that a playoff appearance will qualify as a good year.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The president has been calling aggressively for lower rates and a more acquiescent Fed.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
17 Sep. 2025
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Where Chelsea’s domestic overseers have been largely acquiescent to their accounting ingenuity, the same can’t be said abroad.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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For starters, the applicable standard of review—meaning how the Ninth Circuit will evaluate Wilken’s ruling—is deferential to Wilken as the trial judge.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
5 Jan. 2026
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But under that deferential standard, the District Court’s ‘plausible’ (actually, quite careful) factfinding must survive.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
1 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cringing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cringing. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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