Cringe
/krɪndʒ/noun
To recoil, shrink back, or feel embarrassed and awkward.
Did you know?“Cringe” is ancient body-language vocabulary: it traces back to Old English words meaning to bend, crouch, or submit, and only much later became the modern feeling of secondhand embarrassment.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*krenganą
“to bend, turn, or make crooked”
Old English
OE
cringan
“to fall, perish, yield, or collapse”
Middle English
ME
cringen
“to shrink back, cower, or crouch”
16th Century
English
cringe
“to bow or fawn submissively; to draw back in fear or shame”
20th Century
English
cringe
“to feel acute embarrassment or awkwardness, especially on behalf of someone else”