Cringers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term describing individuals who excessively ingratiate themselves to others for approval or favor
2. people who display exaggerated submissiveness or obsequious behavior
3. those who are overly eager to please or seek validation through often uncomfortable means

Etymology: "Cringers" is the plural of "cringer," a noun for someone who grovels or fawns. The word is simply "cringe" with the agent suffix "-er" attached, so the main story lies in the older verb rather than the suffix. The suffix itself has a long pedigree: it passed from Latin "-arius" through Old French "-ier" into Middle English "-er," and its ancestors reach back to Proto-Indo-European, but its role here is only to turn a verb into a doer. The verb "cringe" once carried a sense of physical bending. It is related to Old English "crincan," meaning to fall or yield, and the idea of giving way under pressure gradually shifted toward yielding in spirit, so that to cringe came to mean to draw back or bow in fear or servility. The noun "cringer" follows that same path, naming the person who bends low before others.

Synonyms: toadies, sycophants, fawners

Antonyms: independent thinkers, rebels