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Showing results for cramped. Search instead for craped.
Synonyms

cramped

1 American  
[krampt] / kræmpt /

adjective

  1. affected with a cramp in a muscle or muscles.

cramped 2 American  
[krampt] / kræmpt /

adjective

  1. confined or severely limited in space.

    cramped closets.

    1. (of handwriting) with characters written small and crowded together.

    2. (of a style of writing) hard to understand; crabbed.

cramped British  
/ kræmpt /

adjective

  1. closed in; restricted

  2. (esp of handwriting) small and irregular; difficult to read

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • crampedness noun

Etymology

Origin of cramped1

First recorded in 1670–80; cramp 1 + -ed 3

Origin of cramped2

First recorded in 1670–80; cramp 2 + -ed 2

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.

I’m in a cramped examination room at a clinic in Panama City.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

Lots of the scenes take place in cramped elevators and bank vaults.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026

The rooms that looked spacious on the website, thanks to photos apparently taken with a fish-eye lens, were cramped.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

Their cramped and outdated Aspmyra Stadium -- built in 1966 -- can hold just over 8,200 spectators and the team came close to bankruptcy in 2016.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

Sometime in the afternoon Ralph awoke feeling hot, cramped, and restless.

From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary

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.