cringe
embarrassing, cringeworthy; also secondhand embarrassment (Fremdscham)
Origin
„cringe“ is an anglicism from the English 'to cringe' ('to flinch, to recoil'). In youth slang it describes something so embarrassing that it triggers secondhand embarrassment (Fremdscham); synonyms are 'embarrassing', 'shameful' and 'awkward'. Spread via social media, „cringe“ was voted German Youth Word of the Year in 2021.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Examples
Das von dem Tanzen ist so cringe.
That video of the teacher dancing is so cringe.