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Cringe vs Suffer - What's the difference?

cringe | suffer |

In lang=en terms the difference between cringe and suffer

is that cringe is to shrink, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment while suffer is to endure, undergo.

As verbs the difference between cringe and suffer

is that cringe is (dated|intransitive) to bow or crouch in servility while suffer is to undergo hardship.

As a noun cringe

is a posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.

cringe

English

Alternative forms

* (dialectal)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.
    • He glanced with a cringe at the mess on his desk.
  • (dialect) A crick.

    • Verb

  • (dated) To bow or crouch in servility.
  • * Milton
    • Sly hypocrite, who more than thou / Once fawned and cringed , and servilely adored / Heaven's awful monarch?
  • * 1903 , ,
    • He heard the hateful clank of their chains; he felt them cringe and grovel, and there rose within him a protest and a prophecy.
  • * 1904 , ,
    • Leclere was bent on the coming of the day when Batard should wilt in spirit and cringe and whimper at his feet.
  • To shrink, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment.
    • He cringed as the bird collided with the window.
  • * Bunyan
    • 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.
  • * 1917 , ,
    • 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.
  • (obsolete) To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Till like a boy you see him cringe his face, / And whine aloud for mercy.

    Derived terms

    * cringeworthy

    See also

    * crouch * wince

    Anagrams

    *

    suffer

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To undergo hardship.
  • To feel pain.
  • To have a disease or condition.
  • To become worse.
  • To endure, undergo.
  • * Shakespeare
    • If your more ponderous and settled project / May suffer alteration.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}
  • (archaic) To allow.
  • * The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. ยง 203:
    • "Employ" includes to suffer or permit to work.
  • * Section 31-36 of the Code of Montgomery County, Maryland:
  • *KJV, Matthew 19:14
  • *:But Jesus said, suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

    • Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    * insufferable * sufferer * suffering * suffer fools gladly * suffer by comparison

    Anagrams

    * ----