cringe
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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“I guess I like cringe comedy,” Kelly says, outing himself as a fan of the awkward comedy duo Tim & Eric.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Today, folks on social media debate the merits of including off-duty pursuits, with opponents calling it cringe, irrelevant or amateurish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Social media users were also split, with one viewer writing that Meghan was "warm, gracious and a delight to watch" while another called Prince Harry's cameo appearance "cringe".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
He tried to get rid of something that still makes me cringe: Conan’s nipple dance.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
I cringe from the heat of the night on my face.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
He drives a Ford pickup truck and cringes at needing a security detail, according to a person who knows him well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Bellamy says he now often cringes looking back at the enraged footballer, banning his own team from throwing their arms up in disgust as he was so prone to do.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2025
Almut cringes at the idea of being commemorated in such a one-note fashion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024
Everyone I know in Seattle specifically cringes when they hear that and I understand that that is a very strange characteristic!
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
No one really cringes if I bump into them anymore, and people borrow my pencils without acting like the pencil has cooties.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
Like almost every parent, I cringed whenever my child or another player headed the ball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
As we showered afterward, I cringed when my hair came away in our hands.
From Slate ● May 23, 2026
I know I’m not the only one who cringed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2024
The lead lawyer for Google "visibly cringed" when the specific share of ad revenue sent to Apple was revealed, according to Bloomberg.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2023
As we squeezed by the throngs in the throbbing house, I cringed at the destruction under way.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
"Every time I see it, I'm cringing, I'm in disbelief," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
“If you’re cringing about writing one performance review, imagine your manager who has to write 15 of them,” says executive coach Sabina Nawaz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
And I didn’t want to ruin that moment, so I was just stuck in a different room, laughing and cringing, all that stuff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
Reading through these items, I confess, I had a difficult time not cringing.
From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2023
But...if it was all true, why did I feel this burning, cringing inside me like I was the one who’d done something wrong?
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Vocabulary lists containing cringe
The Lingo of Body Language
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"Of Mice and Men"
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List 13
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