cringeworthy
/ˈkɹɪndʒˌwɜːð.i/
"cringeworthy" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cringeworthy” is uncommon English (frequency #57,962 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,962
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - That causes one to cringe with embarrassment; embarrassing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cringeworthy · cringeworthy · English
cringeworthy · rank #57,962 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,962
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH crier
Nearest frequency peer: crier (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “cringeworthy”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- corticoster…
corticosteroid
42,044 corpus weight
- corvus
corvus
42,043 corpus weight
- counterparty
counterparty
42,041 corpus weight
- crier
crier
42,040 corpus weight
- cringeworthy
cringeworthy
42,039 corpus weight
- Danby
Danby
42,035 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “cringeworthy” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cringeworthy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkɹɪndʒˌwɜːð.i/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #57,962 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cringeworthy” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cringeworthy is uncommon English at frequency #57,962 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkɹɪndʒˌwɜːð.i/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "That causes one to cringe with embarrassment; embarrassing.".
Zero misspellings are on record for cringeworthy in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cringe + -worthy. The correct English form is cringeworthy, spelled C-R-I-N-G-E-W-O-R-T-H-Y.
Definition
- 1That causes one to cringe with embarrassment; embarrassing.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cringeworthy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The last word on words has spoken. Oxford Dictionaries chose “vape” as the word of the year. It was selected over cringeworthier choices such as “slacktivism” or “bae” — the latter a term of endearment that was a top contender for censorship in Time magazine’s “Which Word Should Be Banned in 2015?” poll.
These ads aren’t as bad as some of the worst ads from previous years — let us not forget the gross GoDaddy commercials, or the Nationwide “Dead Kid” commercial of Super Bowls past — but they’re definitely the cringeworthiest of an already forgettable crop.
Etymology
From cringe + -worthy.
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cringeworthy", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).