cringe
/kɹɪnd͡ʒ/
"cringe" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cringe” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,097 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #14,097
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To cower, flinch, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in disgust, embarrassment, or fear.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cringe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kɹɪnd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #14,097 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cringe” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cringe is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɹɪnd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,097 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cringe, with forms such as "ccringe", "cirnge", and "crigne". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "crone", "crying", "curing", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is derived from Middle English crengen (“to bend in a haughty manner; to condescend”) [and other forms], from Old English *crenċan, *crenċġan, *crenġan (“to cause to fall or turn”), the causative of crinċġan (“to yield; to cringe; to fall; to die, … The correct English form is cringe, spelled C-R-I-N-G-E.
Definition
- 1To cower, flinch, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in disgust, embarrassment, or fear.
- 2To experience an inward feeling of disgust, embarrassment, or fear; (by extension) to feel very embarrassed.
- 3To bow or crouch in servility.
- 4To act in an obsequious or servile manner.
- 5To draw (a body part) close to the body; also, to distort or wrinkle (the face, etc.).
- 6To bow or crouch to (someone) in servility; to escort (someone) in a cringing manner.
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English crengen (“to bend in a haughty manner; to condescend”) [and other forms], from Old English *crenċan, *crenċġan, *crenġan (“to cause to fall or turn”), the causative of crinċġan (“to yield; to cringe; to fall; to die, perish”), from Proto-Germanic *krangijaną (“to cause to fall; to cause to turn”), from Proto-Germanic *kringaną, *krinkaną (“to fall; to turn; to yield”) (from Proto-Indo-European *grenǵʰ- (“to turn”)) + *-janą (suffix forming causatives with the sense ‘to cause to do (the action of the verb)’ from strong verbs). The English word is cognate with Danish krænge (“to turn inside out, evert”), Dutch krengen (“to careen, veer”) and Dutch kring (“circle”), Scots crenge, creenge, creinge, crienge (“to cringe; to shrug”), Swedish kränga (“to careen; to heel, lurch; to toss”), and West Frisian kringe (“to pinch; to poke; to push; to insist, urge”); and is a doublet of crinkle. The noun and adjective are derived from the verb via zero derivation.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccringe,cirnge,crigne,crineg,cringge,crinnge,crnige,crringe,rcinge
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cringe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “cringe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-R-I-N-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɹɪnd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “crone” - see the side-by-side comparison. cringe vs crone
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.