Cringe

Cringe describes the involuntary feeling of embarrassment, awkwardness, or disgust caused by the actions or words of another person (or even oneself). This reaction often manifests physically, with a slight recoil or tightening of muscles, a facial expression of discomfort, or a desire to look away or escape the situation. It can arise from witnessing social faux pas, cheesy displays of affection, displays of excessive ego, or anything that violates social norms or expected behaviors. The intensity of the cringe can range from a mild discomfort to a deep sense of secondhand embarrassment or revulsion. The feeling is often associated with a perceived lack of self-awareness or poor judgment on the part of the person or situation causing the response.

Cringe meaning with examples

• Watching the couple's overly affectionate public display, I couldn't help but cringe. The way they kept feeding each other dessert made me want to look away. It was simply too much. The exaggerated affection felt performative and insincere, resulting in a strong feeling of awkwardness.
• His attempt at a pickup line fell completely flat; the entire room cringed at the sheer corniness of it. It was so cliché and poorly delivered that the ensuing silence felt thick with secondhand embarrassment. He should've just kept his mouth shut.
• Reading through my old diary from middle school, I now cringe at my overly dramatic entries and embarrassing crushes. The style of writing and the level of detail felt mortifying in the present day.
• The commercial with the anthropomorphic animals singing a terrible jingle caused me to physically cringe. The jingle was ear-splitting and the animation style was poorly done. I was almost happy to look away when it was over.
• During the presentation, the speaker kept mispronouncing words and making nonsensical statements. It caused a wave of cringe to spread through the audience as he seemed utterly unaware of his errors. It became hard to pay attention.