Fuss vs Cringe - What's the difference?
fuss | cringe |
Excessive activity, worry, bother, or talk about something.
* (Thomas Carlyle) (1795-1881)
*{{quote-book, year=1935, author=
, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=1
, passage=“Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke
# A complaint or noise.
# An exhibition of affection or admiration.
One who is unduly anxious about trifles.
* (1837-1920)
To be very worried or excited about something, often too much.
To fiddle; fidget; wiggle, or adjust; to worry something
(especially of babies) To cry or be ill-humoured.
To show affection for, especially animals.
To pet.
A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.
(dialect) A crick.
(dated) To bow or crouch in servility.
* Milton
* 1903 , ,
* 1904 , ,
To shrink, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment.
* Bunyan
* 1917 , ,
(obsolete) To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort.
* Shakespeare
As an adjective fuss
is willing.As a noun cringe is
a posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.As a verb cringe is
(dated|intransitive) to bow or crouch in servility.fuss
English
Noun
(es)- zealously, assiduously, and with a minimum of fuss or noise
George Goodchild
- I am a fuss and I don't deny it.
Verb
(es)- His grandmother will never quit fussing over his vegetarianism.
- Quit fussing with your hair. It looks fine.
Usage notes
* Generally used with with, over, or about.Verb
(head)- He fussed the cat.
Derived terms
* fussy * fuss and bother * no muss no fussReferences
cringe
English
Alternative forms
* (dialectal)Noun
(en noun)- He glanced with a cringe at the mess on his desk.
Verb
- Sly hypocrite, who more than thou / Once fawned and cringed , and servilely adored / Heaven's awful monarch?
- He heard the hateful clank of their chains; he felt them cringe and grovel, and there rose within him a protest and a prophecy.
- Leclere was bent on the coming of the day when Batard should wilt in spirit and cringe and whimper at his feet.
- He cringed as the bird collided with the window.
- When they were come up to the place where the lions were, the boys that went before were glad to cringe behind, for they were afraid of the lions.
- But he made no whimper. Nor did he wince or cringe to the blows. He bored straight in, striving, without avoiding a blow, to beat and meet the blow with his teeth.
- Till like a boy you see him cringe his face, / And whine aloud for mercy.
