It’s amazing how a simple photo or post on social media can cause a visceral reaction. A gorgeous photo of a milkshake might make your stomach growl and your mouth salivate, while a gruesome image of an injury might make you wince from pain. But one entirely separate corner of the internet that tends to cause viewers discomfort is the classic cringe content.
Below, you’ll find some of our favorite photos from the Cringe Pics subreddit that might cause you severe second-hand embarrassment. We’ll warn you right now that it might be an uncomfortable journey ahead, but hopefully it’ll be a hilarious one as well. Good luck making it through this list, and be sure to upvote the pics that cause you pain!
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I Hope It's Okay With You That I Took Your Phone Number
Me Being Bisexual Guy
Not A Sewing Machine
While cringe content is nothing new online, there’s still, somehow, absolutely no shortage of it. The Cringe Pics subreddit, which has the tagline “when it hurts just to look,” has been around for over a decade now and has amassed an impressively large and loyal following. With 1.5 million members, this subreddit is the perfect place to go when you want to feel a little bit better about yourself, yet simultaneously lose a bit of faith in the rest of humanity. Anything from embarrassing posts on social media to screenshots of texts that should have never been sent, buckle up, because you’re in for a boatload of cringe, pandas!
Although r/cringepics has been around since 2012, the moderators recently posted new rules for the group, as it has just “reopened.” Nowadays, only 3 types of posts are allowed: “photos of people cringing, photos of Spez, and drawn/artistic/written words ‘Cringe’ to take Cringe pics literal.” There are a few more rules to keep the group civil, such as no content involving minors, remove all personal data and no content involving mentally ill people. But as long as the content is harmless and cringeworthy, members are encouraged to “get creative!”
"We Swedes" - Probably Said By Someone Whose Great Great Grandfather Came From Sweden, And Who Has Never Travelled Further Than The State Border. Then They Dare To Even Lump Us Together With Little Brother Norway!
My grandfather is Polish, i have never set foot in poland , but who cares! We poles are definitely Polish, it’s my heritage guys
You Did What Now?
I remember sitting in a movie theater in San Antonio, Texas, watching the Bo Burnham film Eighth Grade with my mother and brother and feeling intense physical pain from cringing too hard. As a woman who was once an insecure and sad middle schooler desperate to fit in, I felt sick watching that film. Knowing that I too had been in Kayla’s shoes was heartbreaking, embarrassing and unsettling. I liked the film, but I remember sharing immediately after that it was almost a little too cringey for me, as someone with similar experiences to the main character.
Cringe, particularly cringe comedy, is incredibly popular, though. Shows like Nathan for You, PEN15, Impractical Jokers, Fleabag, The Eric Andre Show and countless others gain massive audiences through making viewers uncomfortable. So what’s the deal with all of this second-hand embarrassment? And why can’t we get enough of it? Alison Herman wrote a piece for The Ringer breaking down the allure of cringe comedy, where she explains that the two involuntary responses this genre causes (laughing and wincing) create a powerful combination that we can’t resist.
This Guy I Met Knows No Bounds
This Person's Reply
as an athiest/half of a Russian Orthodox, i think it’s beautiful >:(
Which half of you is Russian Orthodox? Top, bottom, ventral, dorsal, right, left?
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As a Heathen I think this is beautiful and the atheist guy is a prick. Nothing wrong with being an Atheist, just don't be a dįck.
Being a ðick spans across all religions/faiths. The people choosing NOT to be ðicks are the real heroes.
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As an atheist, I would never say anything gross about a child’s headstone, because I am also a moderately decent person.
As an atheist, this makes me cringe unbearably hard. At the second post that is
As a very verbal atheist, I love the statue, I deeply feel with the father and I admit there are idiots and psychopaths among those who call themselves atheists.
I find it's mostly the atheists who grew up in some sort of extremist religious household who act like that after they freed themselves from it.
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As an atheist, I see absolutely nothing wrong with this.
The fück is a "true atheist"? Atheism is simply not being religious, which isn't a religion.
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Free of the struggles had on earth. What's any of that have to do with any religion?
This is the most amazing thing ever(the statue, not the comment)
Why would you even think of this in a religious concept? It is a father's dream of if he could have helped him, he would have been free to be a child, unfettered and free from care. It is an absolutely beautiful expression of pain, loss and love. Mostly love.
I both really hate this persons comment and profile picture, it is making me very uncomfortable for some reason
As an atheist I can't see this and not think that dude is about to snag the interception that saves his team in the state championship
I am an atheist. Not only do I think this fathers efforts are beautiful, but I also thank your comments are incredibly ignorant. And unfortunately, I hate when others in a community, that I affiliate myself with go out of their way to place an image in the minds of the rest of the world that by being an atheist, it makes us all as ignorant and hateful as you are. Disgusting.
Being free of earthly bounds doesn't have any religious meaning so wtf?
I'm a life-long atheist and I think that this is a touching and quite beautiful tribute to the boy.
I'm an atheistic Buddhist. Let people grieve how they want. If it brings this man comfort to think his child is in heaven, it's not hurting you. Leave him alone.
It's non of your business, the person who commented. This person did a lovely think and it's their choice to believe in God. Your an idiot if you think that everyone should be like you. Your like a religious version of a Nazi and your comment makes me sick. Just because your an atheist doesn't mean other people should be, this father did one of the best things he could and your comment tells us more about how stupid you are rather then them. (The person from the picture who wrote the comment probably won't read this, but I hope he was called an idiot by someone else).
As a wheelchair user, I find the term "wheelchair-bound" annoying.
i think its amazing, no moater what ur religian may be. can ppl just see that the dad loved his son (also the fact that the tombstone/statue is a little boy the son died young and that is so sad.) i wish ppl could stop hating when they should be loving (thx 2 every1 that read this rant)
My grandfather was very very catholic. At his very very catholic funeral my sister leaned over and said "as an athiest, I find all this religion very offensive." I leaned back and whispered "then I'm really glad its not your funeral." Shes barely spoken to me since. This was many years ago.
As an atheist, I find it beautiful. So, that's 'Mr prick' nullified. All the rest of you are just pure good vibes to the man and his departed son
F**k you, you unempathetic a*s!! Atheism is not an excuse to be an a*****e toward a grieving father!
The day before my elderly bedridden father died he looked out the window and said he wished he could jump out the window and run away. I think he did. This is a beautiful headstone if one believes in headstones.
ig some people re just destined for hell. (the person who commented)
I fail to see a religious aspect of the sculpture. The father & the artist created an incredible monument. 👍
A true atheist just doesn't want religion pushed on them. I bet this guy doesn't know what he believes, but he thinks being an atheist makes him interesting. It doesn't.
As an atheist, it's sweet. He wanted to do it, it comforts him. Lay off.
I don’t understand. What does atheism or religion have to do with this? Is there a religious symbol somewhere in the photo and I’m not recognizing it? (And now I’ll reveal how truly clueless I am: what exactly about a joyful statue is making her cringe? I see a whooole lotta comments that aren’t helping me; it seems as if everyone understands but me. Haaalp, please?)
As an agnostic I would like to acknowledge it and then question its conflictions.
A man created this tombstone for his kid. The use of free him from his earthly burdens is taken in religious contexts. The atheist (person who is not religious and does not believe that there is a higher power) finds this weird/disturbing
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As an atheist, it doesn't affect me, so I have no opinion, but if it makes the father and the rest of his family happy, then I'm happy for them.
That Atheist is the atheists equivalent of a raging evangelical is for christians, you know those morons that give the others a bad name ;)
I'm afraid that it would be subject to vandalism. Beautiful but too delicate.
And in some countries it would probably forbidden because there are hard rules about how gravestones have to look like. In Germany for example I could see that happening.
As an ableist, I think this headstone captures the beauty of ableism perfectly.
He is also the reason a lot of people dislike Atheists. The terrible behavior of certain religious extremists have made all religions look bad, and Atheists exist because of those twisted religious beliefs. But different religions are developing, even science-based ones. Hawking was willing to believe the Universe is a biological organism and that means it could have a mind. Humans are linked to the Universe on a molecular level. You don't have to believe the Bible, belief that humans ascend to a higher level of existence never hurt anyone.
Logically it's better to believe there is an afterlife because if you believe in it you would gain everything if you were correct and lose nothing if incorrect
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Elon The Edgelord
Herman notes that the reason we respond so strongly to cringe comedy is due to having empathy for whoever we’re watching. We can relate to their experiences or we’ve lived through essentially the same situation before, and we know how awful the subjects we're viewing must be feeling. But rather than feeling joy about the sufferer we’re watching, we feel their pain too. There’s no schadenfreude here, it’s just second-hand embarrassment and laughter due to discomfort and possibly the relatability of the scenario. Nathan Fielder may not come off as incredibly likable or relatable, but seeing his interactions with innocent people who have no idea what’s going on makes audiences feel pain for them both. We’re so glad it’s not us, but we can’t look away!
The Incel Community Is Having A Nuclear Meltdown Because One Of Their Leaders Finally Got Laid
Can someone get unlaid? Because I feel like this is valid grounds to have this guy get unlaid
I Can See The Disgust In The Waiters Eyes
he should go to his mother’s with mumei, see how that goes
Animemes
Actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is another pioneer in the field of cringe comedy. From Da Ali G Show to Borat to Who is America?, Cohen seems to have no limits when it comes to making audiences, and participants in his shows, incredibly uncomfortable. Part of the reason shows like these do so well, Herman explains, is because “our vicarious embarrassment isn’t on behalf of a made-up person we then assign authentic emotions; it’s felt for real people, requiring fewer steps to a more visceral payoff. The same setup that makes these stunts so effective is also what opens them up to ethical challenges, though their defenders argue cringe artists only call attention to the exploitation others perform unthinkingly.”
Hey, I'm A Marine! Can I Get A Discount?
Our group of Marines live and die by discounts, luck has nothing to do with it.
Predditors Gonna Preddit
You Can’t Order A Certain Meal From Mcdonalds Because You’re Not Worthy
According to Dr. Tara Quinn-Cirillo, cringe is not a clinical term, but it is understood as the “physiological and emotional response [we have] to awkward or embarrassing situations.” And there’s a wide variety of things that can create this reaction, “from being embarrassed about your or another’s behavior, being disgusted at something you have seen or heard, shame around past behavior or appearance or a particular subject you are uncomfortable with such as intimacy or physical illness/injury,” Dr. Quinn-Cirillo told HuffPost. This often happens when we can’t physically run away or remove ourselves from a situation, so our body does everything that it can to tell us we want to flee.
Why??
A Mom On Tiktok Who Gave Her Kids These Names
Average Lol Convo
Despite being uncomfortable, Dr. Quinn-Cirillo says it can be healthy to fight through the cringe. “Wherever possible, try and carry on in a situation where things may not go according to plan, try and remember why you are there in the first place and what values lead you to be in that situation,” she says. “Acknowledge how you feel, what physical sensations you are experiencing, notice how you are behaving or feel like behaving as a result of these symptoms such as wanting to leave the room, talk more rapidly.”
What The Hell Dude
My Favorite Way To Shop For Groceries
Rando Hit Me Up On My Dms Sporadically Over 8 Hours Even After Informing Him I'm Married. I Honestly Would Be So Impressed By His Sheer Audacity If I Wasn't So Disgusted By Him As A Person Right Now
One thing many of us have a habit of cringing about is our past behavior and experiences. For example, perhaps you asked out someone you had a crush on when you were in middle school, only to later find out that you had a huge piece of food in your teeth when you did it. Or maybe you had a haircut in high school that you’d like to wipe from the memories of everyone you knew. “It can be hard to embrace elements of your past self that have association with distress,” Dr. Quinn-Cirillo told HuffPost. “However, if we can learn to ‘lean in’ to our emotional responses and memories and make room for the fact that our past experiences often play a crucial role in shaping our adult selves.”
There Is No Spoon
A Tattoo Shop In My Area Post This
Pickup Artists…
Ok Pandas, what is PUA and gen shin impact? Or am I better off not knowing?
With all of the social media we have nowadays and limitless opportunities to document our lives online, it seems that our exposure to cringe content is going through the roof. But that’s okay! We’re all capable (and guilty) of being cringe worthy, and it’s probably time we stop fighting it. But there’s a difference between accidentally doing something embarrassing and posting all of your deepest fears about dating on your public Facebook profile. So don’t be too hard on yourself for the cringey moments, but don’t be scared to dial back on social media as well, if it will help you limit or prevent some of them.
My Little Sister Shared A Meme Of Andrew Tate Online And Got An Interesting Response
Girl I Used To Work With Got A New Tattoo…
Printing Out Memes To Affix To Your Truck
bro just admitted it’s a conspiracy 💀💀 and he’s proud of it???!!!! americans are you ok
Are you in physical pain from cringing too hard at this list, pandas? Please remember to relax your jaw and lower your shoulders, so you aren’t in need of a massage after scrolling through these pics. Keep upvoting the ones that you find shockingly cringey, and let us know in the comments below what your thoughts are on this embarrassing behavior. Then, if you’re looking for Bored Panda’s last article featuring the Cringe Pics subreddit, you can find it right here!
Hey Again
I Like
Back when chat rooms were a thing, there were a LOT of men (who said they were) from Nigeria looking for women to offer them green cards, marriage, and endless copulation. One day, I talked to a Nigerian woman. I told her I hadn't known there even were women in Nigeria. Luckily, she laughed.
This Guy Trying Really Hard To Own This Girl On Facebook
Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
We need a truckload, hell, a warehouse of this stuff.
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We need a truckload, hell, a warehouse of this stuff.
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