cramped
1 Americanadjective
adjective
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confined or severely limited in space.
cramped closets.
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(of handwriting) with characters written small and crowded together.
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(of a style of writing) hard to understand; crabbed.
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adjective
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closed in; restricted
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(esp of handwriting) small and irregular; difficult to read
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cramped1
First recorded in 1670–80; cramp 1 + -ed 3
Origin of cramped2
Explanation
A place that's cramped is uncomfortably small or crowded, like a cramped elevator with one too many riders or a cramped subway car at rush hour. This adjective comes from the verb cramp, "to restrict." When you're in a cramped situation, your movement is restricted in some way, often because there are too many people standing too close together, or simply because the space is too small. You might have a bedroom all to yourself, but if it's the size of a closet, you'll still feel cramped in there.
Vocabulary lists containing cramped
Lesson 11
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Words to Describe Places
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After the VA unveiled a plan during a federal court hearing in January to install 800 tiny homes on the campus, advocates for veteran housing criticized the 8-foot-by-8-foot sheds as cramped, flimsy and undignified.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
The subterranean Manhattan version is 17,000 square feet—a massive footprint in a famously cramped city—with wavy walls covered in tiles the same green shade as a Swedish princess cake.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
Despite the cramped conditions, Lau is reluctant to leave a familiar area where she has built a social network, and hopes her application for transitional housing nearby would be approved.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
The temperatures there are equally high, he says, but open spaces and better ventilation make it easier to cope than Delhi's cramped neighbourhoods and congested lanes.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
Dad paced the cramped space, hand-picking his ’fro.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
