Cringeworthy

//ˈkɹɪnd͡ʒˌwɝð.i// adj, slang

adj, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    That causes one to cringe with embarrassment; embarrassing. colloquial

    "The last word on words has spoken. Oxford Dictionaries chose “vape” as the word of the year. It was selected over cringeworthier choices such as “slacktivism” or “bae” — the latter a term of endearment that was a top contender for censorship in Time magazine’s “Which Word Should Be Banned in 2015?” poll."

Example

More examples

"Maybe next fall we will see the ugliest and most cringeworthy presidential contest in the history of the United States of America."

Etymology

From cringe + -worthy.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.