ドン引き
donbiki
The English word 'cringe' can be expressed in Japanese as ドン引き (donbiki).
ドン引き is used to describe secondhand embarrassment. It specifically refers to a situation where someone's behavior is so awkward, inappropriate or cringeworthy that it causes the observer to feel a sudden sense of social withdrawal or repulsion. You might also encounter the slang term キモい to describe something that is creepy, gross or cringe-worthy.
Meaning: secondhand embarrassment (noun)
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
ドン引き is a colloquial term and is most commonly used in casual conversation or on the internet to describe social awkwardness.
How does it change in a sentence?
To use the noun ドン引き as a verb, you can add the verb する (to do) to create ドン引きする, which means 'to cringe' or 'to be put off'.
How do you pronounce it?
donbiki
Did you know?
- In Japanese social dynamics, ドン引き describes a breach of 空気 (air), or the shared atmosphere of a group. To 'cringe' is essentially to witness someone failing to 'read the air' in a spectacular way.
- While ドン引き describes the feeling of cringe, the term 黒歴史 (black history) is specifically used to describe the cringeworthy memories a person has of their own past.
- The word ドン引き is an onomatopoeia. The 'don' part mimics the sound of a sudden, heavy impact, suggesting that the feeling of embarrassment hits you like a physical blow.
Examples in context
- 彼の失礼なジョークは本当に恥ずかしかった。His rude joke was really cringe-worthy.
- 彼の行動には引かれる。His behavior makes me cringe.
- あの映画の終わり方は本当にキモかった。The ending of that movie was really cringe-worthy.
- 彼の冗談にはいつもドン引きするよ。I always cringe at his jokes.
- 彼の失敗にはドン引きした。Kare no shippai ni wa donbiki shita.I was totally cringed out by his failure.
- その冗談はドン引きされるよ。Sono joudan wa donbiki sareru yo.That joke will make people cringe.
- 周りのドン引きがすごかった。Mawari no donbiki ga sugokatta.The secondhand embarrassment from everyone around was intense.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a person's behavior at a party.
- 結衣 Yuiさっきの人の行動、ドン引きしなかった？Sakki no hito no koudo, donbiki shinakatta?Didn't you cringe at that person's behavior earlier?
- 蓮 Ren正直、かなりドン引きしたよ。Shoujiki, kanari donbiki shita yo.Honestly, I was pretty cringed out.
- 結衣 Yui蓮くんもそう思ったんだね。Ren-kun mo sou omotta ndane.So you thought so too, Ren.
- 蓮 Renうん、見てるのが辛かった。Un, miteru no ga tsurakatta.Yeah, it was painful to watch.
