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PlainSpell

cringe

/ˈkɹɪnd͡ʒ/verb, noun, adjective, interjection

cringe is spelled C-R-I-N-G-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, cringe means “To cower, flinch, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in disgust, embarrassment, or fear” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in cringe?

Letters6: C-R-I-N-G-E
Syllables1
In writing3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is cringe?

Cringe appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cringe?

  • /ˈkɹɪnd͡ʒ/
  • [ˈkʰɹʷɪnd͡ʒ]

Cringe has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cringe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of cringe

  • cringes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • cringing participle, present
  • cringed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • more cringe comparative
  • most cringe superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cringe mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To cower, flinch, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in disgust, embarrassment, or fear.

    He cringed as the bird collided with the window.

  2. 2

    To experience an inward feeling of disgust, embarrassment, or fear; (by extension) to feel very embarrassed.

  3. 3

    To bow or crouch in servility.

  4. 4

    To act in an obsequious or servile manner.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo draw (a body part) close to the body; also, to distort or wrinkle (the face, etc.).

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo bow or crouch to (someone) in servility; to escort (someone) in a cringing manner.

noun

  1. 1

    A gesture or posture of cringing (recoiling or shrinking).

    He glanced with a cringe at the mess on his desk.

  2. 2

    An act or disposition of servile obeisance.

  3. 3

    UKA crick (“painful muscular cramp or spasm of some part of the body”).

  4. 4

    derogatoryslangThings, particularly online content, which would cause an onlooker to cringe from secondhand embarrassment.

    Bro... you just posted cringe

adjective

  1. 1

    derogatoryslangSynonym of cringeworthy or uncool, inducing awkwardness or secondhand embarrassment.

    Brands trying to appeal to young people with memes is the most cringe thing ever.

interjection

  1. 1

    derogatoryslangStated in response to something cringeworthy.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cringe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgrincer des dents (to cower, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in…), gêner (to experience an inward feeling of disgust…), se faire tout petit (gesture or posture of cringing), cringe (secondhand embarrassment)
Germanzusammenzucken (to cower, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in…), Ducken, Erschaudern, Schaudern, Zusammenfahren, Zusammenzucken (gesture or posture of cringing)
Portugueseencolher-se (to cower, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in…), vergonha alheia (secondhand embarrassment)
Spanishgrima, alipori, cringe, lache (secondhand embarrassment)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cringe come from?

The verb is derived from Middle English crengen (“to bend in a haughty manner; to condescend”) [and other forms], from Old English *crenġan, *crenċġan, *crenċan (“to cause to fall or turn”) from Proto-Germanic *krangijaną (“to cause to fall; to cause to turn”), causative of Proto-Germanic *kringaną, *krinkaną (“to fall; to turn; to yield”) (> Old English crin(c)gan (“to yield; to cringe; to fall; to die, perish”)), from Proto-Indo-European *grenǵʰ- (“to turn”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cringe