How to Use cringe in a Sentence

cringe

1 of 2 verb
Definition of cringenext
Synonyms for cringenext
  • The dog cringed at the noise.
  • Just the thought of eating broccoli makes me cringe.
  • I always cringe when I hear that song.
  • This truck has specifications!—hardware that'll make fast cars cringe.
    — Patrick Bedard, Car and Driver, 29 May 2020
  • Locals of the Far North cringed when tourists pulled out their lighters.
    — Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, 7 June 2019
  • There’s all these funny, cringe moments of me on the show.
    — Katcy Stephan, Variety, 9 Nov. 2022
  • The temptation is to look away, to move on, to cringe and avert your gaze.
    — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 3 Dec. 2020
  • A lot of opera singers cringe at the idea, Holiday said.
    — Catherine Womack, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2020
  • Some folks who like wolves cringe at the idea of wolves being trapped or shot.
    — Ben Long, Outdoor Life, 6 Mar. 2020
  • No one wants to cringe at their color in the mirror, so don't let that be you.
    — Maya Allen, Marie Claire, 10 Apr. 2020
  • Workplaces are filled with people who cringe at the word.
    — The Enquirer, 2 Mar. 2023
  • That’s why part of me wants to celebrate this moment, and part of me wants to cringe.
    — Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 1 Sep. 2021
  • These two teams, as much as their fanbases may cringe at the mere thought, are a lot alike.
    — Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 7 Oct. 2021
  • But there must be a part of the players, as with Barkley, that cringed while thrashing Thailand.
    — Dave Hyde, sun-sentinel.com, 12 June 2019
  • But there’s no reason to cringe any longer when the camera pans to the Dallas sideline.
    — Dallas News, 3 Oct. 2022
  • Yet what is cringe but the beginning of self-knowledge?
    — Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024
  • McCord wasn't the day's first star to make followers cringe amid the crisis.
    — Brendan Morrow, The Week, 24 Feb. 2022
  • There are moments when viewers might not know whether to laugh or cringe.
    — Chris Kornelis, New York Times, 31 July 2023
  • No extended gameplay reveals that cringe out with comms from Chad and the rest of the QA team.
    — Joshua Khan, Wired, 15 Apr. 2021
  • The result was an awkward Frankenstein of tone and rhythm that could make the corniest dad cringe.
    — Caleb Madison, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2023
  • There are myriad reasons why this would be, as the kids say, cringe.
    — Brendan Menapace, Spin, 4 Oct. 2023
  • The other Today hosts cringed, but Siri just took it in stride, cracking jokes and prepping the meal.
    — Marie Milano, Country Living, 16 June 2019
  • And not just because of the way Heard was pilloried and mocked in a fashion that would make Jay Leno cringe.
    — Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2022
  • At one point Daly called in his 11-year-old son to get the back of his head, as Hoda Kotb watched (and cringed) on the other end of the broadcast.
    — Kelsey Hurwitz, Woman's Day, 8 Apr. 2020
  • And those weren’t the only comments that made some of his associates cringe.
    — Kim Masters, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Even some fans have cringed at the more explicit moments.
    — Julie Turkewitz, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2019
  • And maybe this is all making fans in Indiana cringe a bit.
    — Stefan Krajisnik, The Indianapolis Star, 20 Mar. 2021
  • Part of me cringes at optimism, at the word hope, which is fraught with history.
    — Hazlitt, 15 Sep. 2022
  • Viewers will cringe while watching the Pacers make their way off the court as fans hurl bottles, and even a chair, at them.
    — Jemele Hill, The Atlantic, 5 June 2019
  • Over the years, colleagues would sometimes cringe at his antics and on other occasions play along.
    — Bre Badham, Fortune, 9 Jan. 2024
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cringe

2 of 2 noun
  • We’ve been treated to the heartfelt and the funny, as well as the bizarre and the cringe-worthy.
    — Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2021
  • But isn’t there some joy to be found in the collective cringe?
    — Smriti Mundhra, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Two of the five wins came against Utah and Arizona of the Pac-12, though, no matter the latter’s cringe-worthy slide.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Oct. 2021
  • That did not mute the offense for a cringe-worthy stretch against two of baseball’s worst.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2021
  • Some of the puff pieces Chafkin digs up are cringe-worthy in retrospect.
    — Moira Weigel, The New Republic, 20 Dec. 2021
  • There is nothing so cringe as seeing an adult who does not work there roam the halls of a high school.
    — Cydney Lee, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2021
  • Revisit with us the most memorable moments of pop culture in 2022 – the good, the bad and the cringe-y.
    — Leah Asmelash, CNN, 29 Dec. 2022
  • But if cringe killed viral challenges, then what went wrong in 2020?
    — Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 24 May 2022
  • No, because all these stories are true, even the most cringe-worthy ones.
    — Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 July 2022
  • Was that cringe moment of Tanya leaving the sunglasses behind in the script?
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2022
  • The film has spawned a slew of sequels, some successful, some cringe-worthy.
    — Amy MacKelden, Harper's BAZAAR, 25 Aug. 2022
  • The Times dipped into the book to find out what’s making some relatives and friends of Bourdain cringe.
    — Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2022
  • Mainstream pop culture is unashamedly cringe and has been for a long time.
    — Daisy Jones, Vogue, 26 Jan. 2023
  • That wasn't the only cringe-worthy reveal in the The Guardian's report, however.
    — Marie Claire, 6 June 2021
  • The cringe of a bad date is something nearly everyone can agree on.
    — oregonlive, 2 Nov. 2022
  • The sample is cringe-worthy enough on its own but becomes even more painful in context.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2022
  • Some of us are great at building the ideal snowman, while some of us have snowball rolling skills that make Frosty cringe.
    — Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 2 Sep. 2021
  • The tradition began back in the 1800s, and its origins are a little cringe-worthy.
    — Emily Vanschmus, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 July 2021
  • Never forget the cringe felt ’round the world when, in 2021, Trevor Noah ambushed her to announce she’d just tied a Grammy record.
    — Lindsay Zoladz, New York Times, 15 Nov. 2022
  • The barely-there premise -- 13 blokes sit around an Irish pub and sing songs -- is fraught with cringe-worthy potential.
    — cleveland, 12 June 2021
  • But with such a long history, there's bound to be some cringe-worthy moments.
    — Janaya Wecker, Good Housekeeping, 14 Nov. 2022
  • Tennessee, for a bit of cringe-worthy context, led the country at 525.5 per game.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Jan. 2023
  • Every cringe and wince from the disgusted press corps was his reward.
    — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Jan. 2023
  • That’s not to say that last week’s episode didn’t include some cringe-tacular moments.
    — oregonlive, 24 Feb. 2022
  • West might have assumed his behavior was the kind of cringe that verges on irresistible.
    — Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2022
  • Method acting doesn't have to be cringe, according to Andrew Garfield.
    — Brendan Morrow, The Week, 23 Aug. 2022
  • EJ Dickson and Brittany Spanos will explore what the vast corners of the rapidly growing app, from the serious to the cringe.
    — Rolling Stone, 22 Sep. 2021
  • Many people can’t afford a sick day and cringe at losing income!
    — Teresa Ghilarducci, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2021
  • In 2020, the atmosphere worsened when former host Sandi Toksvig’s brusque warmth was replaced by the cringe (and extremely dubious) comedian Matt Lucas.
    — James Hansen, Bon Appétit, 28 Sep. 2023
  • Instead, in true millennial cringe fashion, Ballinger delivered her message through a 10-minute YouTube ukulele song, leaving behind probably the only time a notes app apology would have been preferable.
    — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 28 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cringe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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