toe-curlingadj.
/ˈtəʊkəːlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈtoʊˌkərlɪŋ/ colloquial.
Causing (or liable to cause) the toes to curl as an emotional response, esp. in acute embarrassment or disgust; uncomfortably embarrassing or distasteful. Cf. cringeworthy adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > [adjective] > unpleasant > extremely
queasy1937
cunty1943
cuntish1962
gut-wrenching1972
toe-curling1976
hellacious1977
hackit1985
the mind > emotion > humility > feeling of shame > [adjective] > embarrassed > embarrassing
abashing1530
embarrassing1778
hot-making1931
cringy1967
cringe-making1969
cringe-inducing1972
toe-curling1976
cringeworthy1977
cringe2001
1901 G. Ade 40 Mod. Fables 106 When they struck a Barber-Shop Minor they would Dwell until the unhappy Listener felt his Toes curling.]
1976 N. Rees in Listener 9 Sept. 304/3 The toe-curling pop proselytising of Pause for Thought.
1985 Lit. Rev. Jan. 20/1 She had to die, neglected by herself and eternally unsatisfied, in order to be reborn in a plethora of toe-curling homages.
1998 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 19 Jan. 12 ‘Getting the shits a lot, being tired, sweating a lot, and subsequently being smelly,’ he continues in toe-curling detail.
1999 D. F. Wallace Brief Interviews with Hideous Men 5 You have awakened through fluttering lids to a rush and a gush and a toe-curling scalp-snapping jolt of feeling from an inside deeper than you knew you had.
Derivatives
ˈtoe-curlingly adv.
ΚΠ
1984 Listener 9 Aug. 39/1 The other week, I scored a letters double I'm still toe-curlingly pleased about.
2001 Daily Tel. 11 June 18/6 [He] may have fit the times when he made his speech as a 16 year old to rapturous applause, although one Tory grandee present at that 1977 party conference remarked, ‘He was toe-curlingly awful.’
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1976