cringe
\kʁin(d)ʒ\
The verdict
“cringe” is uncommon French (frequency #84,673 among 257,141 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,673
- frequency rank, French
- 257,141
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Qui suscite beaucoup de gêne ou d’embarras.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cringe |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \kʁin(d)ʒ\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #84,673 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cringe” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
cringe is uncommon French at frequency #84,673 among 257,141 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \kʁin(d)ʒ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Qui suscite beaucoup de gêne ou d’embarras.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for cringe, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is cringe, spelled C-R-I-N-G-E.
Definition
- 1Qui suscite beaucoup de gêne ou d’embarras.
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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "cringe"?
What does "cringe" mean?
How do you pronounce "cringe"?
What language does "cringe" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cringe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-R-I-N-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \kʁin(d)ʒ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Other uncommon French words near this rank
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.