cringey
Americanadjective
-
causing a reaction or feeling of embarrassment, awkwardness, or discomfort; cringeworthy.
The movie brought back my cringey middle school memories.
-
seeking favor by means of servile behavior or flattery.
His talk show is mostly cringey interviews with celebrities.
Etymology
Origin of cringey
First recorded in 1965–70; cringe ( def. ) + -y 1 ( def. )
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.
It’s so overly consultant-speak cringey that I can clearly picture a corporate off-site meeting about to go into breakout sessions.
Kind of a cringey comedic bit between Trevor Noah and Bad Bunny that I won’t go to the trouble of play-by-playing here.
From Los Angeles Times
Mason describes Noah as “super funny but respectful — and not cringey funny, which is important for our show.”
From Los Angeles Times
Something similar played out a few years back with Geriatric Millennials, born in the early '80s, whose brand of humour—the crying-laughing emoji, finger moustaches and the word "adulting"—was derided as cringey.
From BBC
Women’s March in 2017, and I saw every race, gender and age marching, cringey pink hats and all.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
