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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
His most intense fans may revel in his displays of dominance, but his least attached supporters—the ones who turned him from a loser in 2020 to a winner in 2024—are recoiling.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Trump has been riding roughshod over Washington and voters are recoiling.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
12 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
In some sense, there’s a palpable disgust that this community has responded not by cowering, not by submitting, not by being grateful for this sort of armed invasion that is meant to stress everyone out, but by trying to foil it.—
Hanna Rosin,
The Atlantic,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Goetz saw two female passengers on the ground, paralyzed and cowering in fear.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
In the dark romantic comedy-drama, True Blood alum Skarsgård, 49, plays tough biker Ray, who enters into a dominant-submissive relationship with Colin (Melling), a shy and directionless man who sings in a barbershop quartet.—
Eric Andersson,
PEOPLE,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Usually, guys with power like to be submissive and are bottoms.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
11 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
The album’s 20 songs are the resigned and rueful sound of him making amends with his obscurity, and his larger place in the universe.—
Jayson Greene,
Pitchfork,
14 Jan. 2026
-
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
Adjective
-
As the right rises, Trump puts enemies on notice The Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela extends its broader crusade to assemble a column of allied — or at least acquiescent — governments in Latin America, sailing with the political winds blowing in much of the region.—
Megan Janetsky,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Jan. 2026
-
With This is Gavin Newsom, the California governor is obviously working to position himself as some sort of aisle-bridging but Trump-antagonizing candidate, an acquiescent project that involves booking Steve Bannon one week and Ezra Klein the next.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cringing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cringing. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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