Cringe
One word that has been increasing in popularity is cringe. It has gained a new function over the past two decades, but the meaning is still fairly similar. Cringe means to move your body as a response to fear, pain, or disgust. Think about something really disgusting. Now imagine touching it. Did your body just move away? Did your body shake? Did your hands and chin go towards your chest? If you did, that is cringing. You are moving in reaction to something disgusting. There may be other reasons to cringe, but the most popular reason today is disgust.
Example: I cringed when I saw my brother eat a worm.
Cringe is an old word dating to 1570s but has even older origins. You can see that cringe was originally a verb, but noun and adjective forms have also followed. Saying that something is ‘cringe, or cringey’ means that it makes you feel disgust or embarrassment. It gives the listener (or reader) the impression that you had a physical response to it.
Example: I can’t believe you kissed him. That is so cringe!
Example: She sent you a cringey letter talking about how much she loves you.
The word cringeworthy has also arisen. It is a combination of cringe and worthy. If something is cringeworthy, it is something that would cause you to cringe. Knowyourmeme notes that cringeworthy has been around since the 1972. The British comic strip, The Bash Street, had a character named, Cuthbert Cringeworthy. However, it started spreading in the early 2000s. In 2009, Cringeworthy.net was created.
Example: That hat is cringeworthy.
See Also: I Can't Stomach, Put Your Foot in Your Mouth
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Reference:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/cringe
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cringeworthy
https://web.archive.org/web/20140831120224/http://www.cringeworthy.net/cringeworthydefined
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cringe%2C+cringeworthy%2C+cringey&year_start=1600&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ccringe%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ccringeworthy%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ccringey%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Ccringe%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ccringeworthy%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ccringey%3B%2Cc0
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=cringe
