English Slang: Cringe

To “cringe” is this face: 

Using cringe like a verb is not slang; it’s normal speech. We usually cringe when something looks painful or embarrassing. If you see someone fall and break their arm, you might cringe. You felt that pain for them. 

If you see a girl in high heels fall up the stairs, you might cringe. You feel embarrassed for her. 

This standard verb has become slang pretty recently. The difference is basically that the slang version is an adjective. You might hear something like, that is so cringe. The meaning is not that different. It just means something is embarrassing or stupid. Basically, it’s cringe if it makes you cringe. If your 45-year old dad starts trying to use slang that highschoolers are using, it’s embarrassing, so you could say, That’s cringe. Most Americans under 45 know this slang term, but not everyone uses it. 

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