As teenagers, the one thing most of us wanted to avoid being was cringe. You may not have used that exact word at the time; perhaps you were scared of being a “poser,” a “dweeb,” or a “square.” But the idea of being uncool is absolutely nothing new; every generation just has its own terminology for it.
As far as what exactly it means to be cringe, Merriam-Webster defines it as “so embarrassing, awkward, etc. as to cause one to cringe.” And as you can see from this list, this can be achieved in countless different ways. Whether it’s posting something questionable on social media, wearing a stupid t-shirt, or confidently sharing outdated views, there’s no end to the number of ways that you can make people cringe.
#6 Surely They Could Have Come Up With A Less Edgelord Sounding Name Than This
In 2025, Yola Mzizi wrote a piece for the New York Times discussing the idea of “climbing Cringe Mountain.” This idea is now considered a quintessential step of adulthood, according to many Gen Zers. The phrase, which was coined by Erica Mallett, a 34-year-old creator consultant in Sydney, Australia, came about after Mallett was bombarded with messages from radio listeners calling her cringe.
While this, understandably, was not easy to handle initially, Mallett eventually realized that she could use the experience for growth. The journey of “climbing cringe mountain” entails “stumbling publicly, enduring judgment and finding resilience in the process,” Mzizi explains. It might be embarrassing, but it’s certainly not the end of the world.
#8 Why Does Elon Musk Keep Dressing Like He's 16, It's 1999, And He Just Saw The Matrix For The First Time And Went Straight To Hot Topic Afterward?
What young people today often don’t realize is that experimentation has always been a part of youth. You might have dyed your hair black when you were 13 or had a phase where you dreamed of becoming a magician, but you later grew out of it. And decades ago, nobody in your life would have to know about this unless you told them. Today, however, almost every aspect of a young person’s life is documented on social media. And audiences will happily pick apart and scrutinize every moment that they have access to, even years after the fact.
Unfortunately, the fear of being perceived as cringe can be like a prison. To celebrate his last album release, Tyler, the Creator hosted listening parties where phones and cameras were banned. His reasoning for this was so that people feel comfortable, as they know they won’t be recorded.
“I asked some friends why they don’t dance in public, and some said because of the fear of being filmed,” the artist explained on a now-deleted Instagram post. “It made me wonder how much of our human spirit [vanished] because of the fear of being a meme.”
While the pendulum might finally be swinging to a place where being cringe is less frowned upon, people are still, overall, uncomfortable with being awkward. According to a 2022 YouGov survey, over a quarter of Americans consider themselves to be more awkward than their peers. And over two-thirds of Americans believe that they are just as tolerant or even more tolerant of awkward situations than other people are. Meanwhile, 65% of Americans say they dislike or hate being present for awkward situations.
Embarrassment doesn’t only hit while you’re currently experiencing something, though. Sometimes, it comes back to bite you a bit later. Half of Americans say that they sometimes or often feel embarrassment when remembering something awkward that they once said or did. And when it comes to vicarious or secondhand embarrassment, 45% of Americans say that they experience it sometimes or often.
