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Adjective: cringing  krin-jing
  1. Totally submissive
    "If the dominant bird follows, the cringing bird slinks about";
    - groveling [US], grovelling [Brit, Cdn], wormlike, wormy
Verb: cringe  krinj
  1. Draw back, as with fear or pain
    "she cringed when they showed the slaughtering of the calf";
    - flinch, squinch [N. Amer], funk, shrink, wince, recoil, quail, blench
     
  2. Show submission or fear
    - fawn, crawl, cower, grovel

See also: submissive

Type of: bend, flex, move

Encyclopedia: Cringe