cringe
KRINSH — often with a German sh at the endadjective, nounInformal
A German slang term. Browse all German slang.
What it means
Embarrassing to witness; second-hand embarrassment. Used as a predicate adjective — 'das ist so cringe' — which is not how English uses the word.
Youth Word of the Year 2021, and genuinely one of the few winners that stuck. It stuck so well that adults and brands now use it, which is precisely why teenagers have started finding the word itself cringe.
Examples with translations
Das war so cringe, ich konnte nicht hinschauen.
That was so painful, I couldn't watch.
Der Auftritt war fremdscham-cringe hoch zehn.
That performance was second-hand embarrassment to the power of ten.
Note: Stacking it on the native Fremdscham is common and mildly jokey.
Where it comes from
Borrowed from English internet usage around 2019–20 and reanalysed as an adjective, which English does not permit. German already had the precise native noun for the feeling — Fremdscham — which makes the borrowing a pure register move rather than a gap-filler.
First attested: 2019
Other forms
- Similar terms:
- peinlich, Fremdscham