Word.ws English Dictionary

cringe-worthy

cringe-worthy is the alternative form of cringeworthy.

Meaning of cringeworthy

Adjective

cringeworthy (comparative more cringeworthy or cringeworthier, superlative most cringeworthy or cringeworthiest)

  1. (informal) That causes or may cause one to cringe with disgust, embarrassment (often vicarious embarrassment), etc.; awkward, disgusting, embarrassing.
    • But the top goon's one-panel reform described by Robin on the last page was absolutely cringeworthy … especially since the author had so successfully built up his image as a first-rate shnook.1967 November, Guy Lillian, “Letters to the Batcave”, in Batman, number 196, Sparta, Ill.: National Periodical Publications, →OCLC, column 2

Forms of cringe-worthy

comparativemore cringe-worthy
comparativecringe-worthier
superlativemost cringe-worthy
superlativecringe-worthiest

Questions about cringe-worthy

What is cringe-worthy the alternative form of?
Cringe-worthy is the alternative form of cringeworthy.

Words near cringe-worthy in the dictionary

  1. cringe-makingly
  2. cringe-o-meter
  3. cringe-o-meters
  4. cringe-worthier
  5. cringe-worthiest
  6. cringe-worthy
  7. cringe-y
  8. cringed
  9. cringedst
  10. cringefail
  11. cringefest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cringe-worthy (page history and authors); cringeworthy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “cringe-worthy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cringe-worthy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.