The comedy half of this horror-comedy comes almost entirely from Jamie commenting on her new surroundings from a Gen Z perspective: telling a man his Federal Body Inspector t-shirt is problematic,
cringing
at her new high school’s racist mascot.
—
Michael Nordine,
Variety
, 11 Oct. 2023
In a confessional interview, a female participant
cringes
while reacting to the conditions of their stay.
—
Esther Kang,
Peoplemag
, 20 Sep. 2023
Small wonder that since the JFK-LBJ ticket in 1960, only one Democratic runner-up in the primaries has been picked for V.P. And that is an example that makes most Democrats
cringe
in hindsight: John Kerry’s choice of John Edwards in 2004.
—
Walter Shapiro,
The New Republic
, 11 Sep. 2023
Nothing has really changed; the married couples are all still married, Bliss and Zach are still cheesy, Chelsea and Kwame are still
cringe
, Tiffany and Brett are still adorable.
—
Vulture
, 1 Sep. 2023
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
Over the past 20 years, American culture has been gorging itself nearly to death on
cringe
comedy.
—
Sam Anderson,
New York Times
, 3 June 2023
The series is all cliché, followed by painful
cringe
and then rounded out by dumbfounded confusion.
—
Kelly Lawler,
USA TODAY
, 26 May 2023
While the
cringe
parts are unfortunately inescapable, the movie still holds its own in certain respects.
—
Mekita Rivas,
refinery29.com
, 15 Aug. 2023
Whoever is more at fault for this
cringe
spectacle, there is something unseemly and deeply weird about being here at all, caught in this peacocking masculinity crisis of the 0.001 percent.
—
Monica Hesse,
Washington Post
, 17 Aug. 2023
And while the costume might have become synonymous with
cringe
millennial internet humor, Ballinger juxtaposed her sketches with an online persona dedicated to steadfast kindness and positivity — which attracted a wave of young fans.
—
Ct Jones,
Rolling Stone
, 21 June 2023
Was Timberlake’s cultural stock — already wobbling at dangerously
cringe
levels in recent years — about to take another hit?
—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone
, 13 Sep. 2023
In fact, some of it was pretty
cringe
and on the nose and reminded me of being a 13-year-old discovering Tumblr for the first time.
—
Riann Phillip,
Vogue
, 26 July 2023
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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.
13th century, in the meaning defined at
sense 4
Noun
1597, in the meaning defined
above
Adjective
1983, in the meaning defined
above
The first known use of
cringe
was
in the 13th century
See more words from the same century
“Cringe.”
Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary
, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cringe. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023.
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