cringily
advEtymology From cringey /cringy + -ly.
1
In a cringey manner.
- They exulted when they opened their copies of the Hahnemannian to read therein that Dr. Gould was “a tallow candle going out with a bad smell,” “not honest,” "not truthful,” and that he “cringily begs for mercy.”1891 December 19, “The morals and amenities of medical controversy”, in Med. News, 59:716–717; quoted in James Eckman, “History of Medicine in Minnesota: Homeopathic and Eclectic Medicine in Minnesota”, in Minnesota Medicine: […], volume 24, number 7, the Minnesota State Medical Association, July 1941, page 568:
- Then, dancing dishonours having been equally shared by a fatarmed partially dusky hoor and a tiny earnest negroid tart (both immeasurably under wraps) emerges now 1 song, beginning and rebeginning with a moist dark tone; cringily climbing (tumbling; crazily, upyearning) collapsing: smoothly, and languidly, building…1933, E. E. Cummings, EIMI, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press Inc., published 1958, →LCCN, page 209:
4 more examples
- THE TOURIST TRAP (T). Repeat of the cringily captivating series in which candid cameras reveal how holidaymakers from different countries react to a series of provocations, raging from petty larceny to full-frontal nudity.1999 May 13, “Television Guide”, in Evening Standard, London, page 40:
- You know the truth: you’re no different to that ageing hippy pal of your dad’s who once barged into your bedroom while you and your mates were smoking a joint and cringily demanded: ‘Hey man, pass the vibes.’2002 December 1, Damon Syson, “How old are you really? Forget what it says on your birth certificate, you’re only as young as your lifestyle”, in The Observer, page 42:
- All the way with Paige Michalchuk doesn t have quite the same ring to it, but the new version is just as cringily awesome as the original and covers the same breadth of PSA-worthy topics at least, in its Canadian incarnation.2006, Tara Ariano, Sarah D. Bunting, “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, in Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love to Hate (and Hate to Love) About TV, Philadelphia, Pa.: Quirk Books, →ISBN, page 76:
- First, there’s NBC’s hit comedy The Office. NBC has already wisely figured out that the subject matter of the show – the cringily familiar misadventures of a pack of miserable office workers – naturally attracts an audience of miserable office workers;2006 May 25, Tara Ariano, “More reasons to stay inside on a nice day; TV on the Web; This summer will have more than just Deadwood”, in National Post, volume 8, number 179, page AL5:
- Synonyms
- cringeworthily, cringingly