Meaning of cringeometer | Babel Free

Definitions

An imaginary device that measures cringeworthiness (the extent to which something makes one cringe; that is, flinch or recoil with embarrassment).

humorous, informal, sarcastic

Examples

“My cringeometer went off the scale as I watched his excruciating performance.”

“How Does Your Dad Rate On The Cringe-O-Meter? [title]”

“But he [Gordon Brown] caused serious damage to the cringeometer in the build-up to the 2010 general election when he attacked the Conservative Party with a football chant: [...]”

“As the Prime Minister's spokesman put it the other day, this is an occasion for government ministers to "mix with the community" ("jinżlu fil-komunità"). Cringeometers off for a minute, the sleight is fascinating.”

“Again, with your cringeometer on, it's lucky, there's loads of brilliant actors, to work a lot is fantastic.”

“Not all social-media gimmicks are created equal and doubtless some of these were lapped up by the target audience, with their funny little avatars and chronic misuse of the verb 'to rustle'. The rest of us, though, might need to start recalibrating our cringeometers.”

“If Alpha Papa was your introduction to [Alan] Partridge, you'll be wanting to dig through the Parchives, pronto. (Just make sure cringe-o-meters are set to stun.)”

“For some reason my dining companion the Professor will insist on getting the chef out of the kitchen for a selfie at the end of this meal. To a person as socially inept as myself, this is almost as soaringly high on the cringeometer as his insistence on speaking Spanish to the Mexican waitress throughout the evening.”

“The cringe-o-meter peaks during a scene in which a shirtless [Charlie] Hall, well, masters his domain. Hall said he had no issue showing that scene to his mother [Julia Louis-Dreyfus], who played Elaine on "Seinfeld" for nine seasons.”

CEFR level