1
as in wincing
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 shrinking
Related Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cringing
Verb
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The staff member can be seen cowering down to fend off the attack and then turns and squares up to the irate passenger, who’s wearing a green colored top and army green pants.—
Michael Dorgan,
Fox News,
29 Nov. 2024 -
The trauma of war is ever-present in Honda's vision, which sees citizens fleeing for their lives and cowering in the rubble of their homes.—
Katie Rife,
EW.com,
18 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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But while the Internet is torn over whether Carpenter’s submissive position on the Man’s Best Friend cover is funny or degrading, Whoopi Goldberg was more concerned with something else.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
12 June 2025
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By contrast, a beta is supposedly weak and submissive—a follower.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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As new members have replaced the resigned ones, the board has ramped up focus on policies around LGBTQ+ students, dress codes and health curriculum.—
Maia Pandey,
jsonline.com,
11 July 2025
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If 28 Days Later presaged our post-9/11 paranoia and dread, 28 Years Later settles into the resigned gloom of our modern age, where everything is rubbish and only getting worse.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
20 June 2025
Adjective
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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
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Netanyahu appears convinced that his country’s security, along with his own political survival, depends on prolonging the military offensives and keeping both Gaza and Lebanon ungovernable, and therefore acquiescent.—
Mohanad Hage Ali,
Foreign Affairs,
1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Yet this week the president was notably deferential to his Israeli counterpart on questions about the future of Gaza.—
Ellen Mitchell,
The Hill,
11 July 2025
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Chief Justice Roberts 'wrong,' courts should be 'deferential' The Trump administration's mass deportation efforts have repeatedly hit legal challenges.—
Victoria Moorwood,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
Adjective
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This can be a Real ID or other compliant form of identification.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
14 July 2025
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An internal audit completed earlier this year by the NFLPA reportedly found the organization compliant with best practices.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
14 July 2025
Adjective
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These prices tend to reflect the higher yielding asking price versus the lower yielding bid price.—
Barnet Sherman,
Forbes,
31 Dec. 2024
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Net interest income for the quarter was $72.2 million, compared to $62.2 million in the previous year, driven by growth in higher yielding loans, primarily from CCBX.—
Quartz Bot,
Quartz,
8 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative, where an individual tends to give up on their own needs and acquiesce to the desires of others by disengaging from the situation altogether.—
Ellen Choi,
Forbes,
10 Mar. 2025
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Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.—
Ellen Choi,
Forbes,
10 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Cringing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cringing. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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