Dictionary

cringey en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɹɪnd͡ʒi/
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

From cringe + -y.

Meanings

1. Characterised by causing feelings of embarrassment; embarrassing.
   • During a recent appearance on “The Last Laugh” podcast, the actor, who played Dwight Schrute on the hit NBC comedy, talked about how cringey parts of the series could be. 2025 September 12, Lisa Respers France, “Rainn Wilson says ‘The Office’ was ‘based around clueless, insensitive, racist, sexist people’”, in CNN:
   • “Hey, girl. You are so dope. I love, I love that fit. Um... Question. And this is like super cringey. Um... Do you think you could be, like, chiller to Addy?” “Are you somebody's mom? Is somebody missing their mom?” “Nope. No, I'm not that much older than you. I'm, like, borderline big sister age.” “Maybe you need to spend less time looking up teen slang on ChatGPT because it's giving you a tech neck. Wrinkles in the front. Hump in the back. You're a humpback whale. Humpback.” [students chanting] “Humpback, humpback, humpback! Humpback, humpback, humpback! Humpback, humpback, humpback!” “What did you do?” “I hate my neck!” 2026 March 12, Spencer Taylor, “Squirrels and Fat Cats” (12:16 from the start), in Animal Control, season 4, episode 8, spoken by Zoe (Sasha Rojen):
2. Cringing; cowardly.

Forms

Deriveds

cringeyness · cringily · cringey-ness

Synonyms

cringeworthy