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Definition of Cringe
1. Verb. Draw back, as with fear or pain. "She flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf"
Generic synonyms: Move
Specialized synonyms: Retract, Shrink Back
Derivative terms: Flinch, Wince, Wince
2. Verb. Show submission or fear.
Generic synonyms: Bend, Flex
Derivative terms: Coward, Crawler, Fawner, Groveler, Groveller
Definition of Cringe
1. v. t. To draw one's self together as in fear or servility; to bend or crouch with base humility; to wince; hence, to make court in a degrading manner; to fawn.
2. v. t. To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort.
3. n. Servile civility; fawning; a shrinking or bowing, as in fear or servility.
Definition of Cringe
1. Noun. A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling. ¹
2. Noun. (dialect) A crick. ¹
3. Verb. (dated) To bow or crouch in servility. ¹
4. Verb. To shrink, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Cringe
1. to shrink in fear [v CRINGED, CRINGING, CRINGES]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Cringe
Literary usage of Cringe
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Cotton is King, and Pro-slavery Arguments: Comprising the Writings of by David Christy, Albert Taylor Bledsoe, Thornton Stringfellow, Robert Goodloe Harper, James Henry Hammond, Samuel Adolphus Cartwright, Charles Hodge (1860)
"... and the English Satirized—A contrast— Causes of the want of moral power of
Abolitionists—Slaveholders no cause to cringe—Other results—Effect of the ..."
2. Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America: Or, An Attempt to Collect by Hezekiah Niles (1822)
"... through fear forget he is a шал, cringe to the creature he despises, smile on
the man he hates, alternately shake bands with vice and virtue, ..."
3. History of Civilization in England by Henry Thomas Buckle (1913)
"... as men of no account, and they were often obliged to fawn and cringe at the
levee of the minister, in order to procure a place for some needy dependent. ..."
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