How to pronounce "cringes" in English
ˈkrɪndʒɪz
KRIN·jiz
Primary stress: KRIN
Hear native speakers say cringes in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “cringes”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
KRIN
Elevated pitch, sustained vowel length, and full acoustic clarity.
jiz
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
Primary emphasis falls on the first syllable ("KRIN"). Raise your pitch and sustain the vowel length on this syllable while relaxing the surrounding syllables.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels.
How Native Speakers Say It: Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "cringes" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "cringes is" sounds like "cringes-iz").
In natural sentences, avoid over-stressing "cringes" unless it conveys the core contrast or focal point of your message.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“So now I move on to the dreaded word that everybody kind of cringes to,”— TEDx TalksWatch clip
“every audiologist I know cringes when somebody says I have a 50% loss because it's like well 50% of what you can have this case this person has perfectly”— StanfordWatch clip
“Needless to say that the entire database community cringes, and rolls over in their graves if they are not alive, at this.”— MIT OpenCourseWareWatch clip
“If you think about it, when I say you should take back your power, everyone cringes just a little bit.”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“When I say, you should take back your power, everyone cringes just a little bit.”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“of things, like a puddle of vomit, almost everybody kind of cringes.”— Andrew HubermanWatch clip
Practice Speaking “cringes”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
So now I move on to the dreaded word that everybody kind of cringes to,
Hear it in context: “cringes”
12 clipsThe English word “cringes” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as ˈkrɪndʒɪz (phonetic respelling: KRIN-jiz). Phonologically, it consists of 2 syllables (KRIN · jiz), with primary lexical stress placed on the 1st (initial) syllable (KRIN). Grammatically, “cringes” functions as a verb, noun, adjective, interjection and acts as an English heteronym where syllable stress shifts between noun (initial-syllable stress) and verb (second-syllable stress) usage. SayItVid indexes 12 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “cringes” in natural connected speech across American (US: 8 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from TEDx Talks, Stanford, MIT OpenCourseWare.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USTEDx TalksClip #1 · @4:30
“building a connection is listening. So now I move on to the dreaded word that everybody kind of cringes to, that everybody kind of cringes to,”
- 🇺🇸 USStanfordClip #2 · @9:32
“is we don't talk about Phineas in terms of percentage of hearing loss I think every audiologist I know cringes when somebody says I have a 50% loss because it's like well 50% of what you can have this case this person has perfectly it's like well 50% of what you can have this case this person has perfectly”
- 🇺🇸 USMIT OpenCourseWareClip #3 · @28:21
“enormous numbers of log files. Needless to say that the entire database community cringes, and rolls over in their graves if they are not alive, at this. and rolls over in their graves if they are not alive, at this.”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #4 · @1:46
“relationship with power, right? If you think about it, when I say you should take back your power, everyone cringes just a little bit. you should take back your power, everyone”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #5 · @4:50
“If you think about it. When I say, you should take back your power, everyone cringes just a little bit. everyone cringes just a little bit.”
Definition & Meaning: “cringes”
- To cower, flinch, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in disgust, embarrassment, or fear.
- To experience an inward feeling of disgust, embarrassment, or fear; (by extension) to feel very embarrassed.
- A gesture or posture of cringing (recoiling or shrinking).
- An act or disposition of servile obeisance.
- Synonym of cringeworthy or uncool, inducing awkwardness or secondhand embarrassment.
- Stated in response to something cringeworthy.
Example Sentences (3)
- “He cringed as the bird collided with the window.”
- “I'm cringing watching this easily Blizzard- or Square Enix-worthy new trailer for Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls Online. Not because it's bad — it's a deftly rendered slice of CGI. But it must have cost a fortune. It makes me want to say "Spend the money on knocking the game out of the park, please, not the frippery, Bethesda." But oh what frippery.”
- “So now I move on to the dreaded word that everybody kind of cringes to,”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “cringes”
- Pronunciation:
- KRIN-jiz
- Syllables:
- KRIN · jiz
- Written Hyphenation:
- cringes
- Primary stress:
- KRIN
- IPA:
- ˈkrɪndʒɪz
- Hear it in context
- cringes
Words that Rhyme with “cringes”
-ɪndʒɪzWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"cringes" (⁄ˈkrɪndʒɪz⁄) has no true homophones in standard English — there are no other words with identical pronunciation. Unlike sound-alike pairs like there / their or peace / piece, "cringes" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about cringes
How do you pronounce “cringes”?
“cringes” is pronounced ⁄ˈkrɪndʒɪz⁄ (KRIN-jiz). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “cringes”?
“cringes” has 2 syllables: KRIN · jiz.
Where is the stress in “cringes”?
The primary stress in “cringes” is on “KRIN”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “cringes” mean?
To cower, flinch, recoil, shrink, or tense, as in disgust, embarrassment, or fear.
How can I hear “cringes” used in real sentences?
This page has 12 real-world video examples of “cringes” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken.
What is the most common pronunciation mistake when saying “cringes”?
Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels. Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).