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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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.
But it came with issues, with some teams complaining the units were too cramped and the beds too short.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Sitting in his cramped Delhi home, Ishamuddin Khan can still make a rope appear to rise into the air.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
“Without a comprehensive transit system, we could have empty stadiums and cramped roadways,” Bass said at a meeting of the Metro board last week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
She was 14 years my senior and returned home at night to a husband and three daughters on Long Island, while the rest of us headed to cramped apartments in the city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
I wrote and wrote until my hand cramped up, and then wrote some more.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
