cramped

¹

[ krampt ]

adjective

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

cramped

²

[ krampt ]

adjective

1. confined or severely limited in space:

   cramped closets.

2. 1. (of handwriting) with characters written small and crowded together.
   2. (of a style of writing) hard to understand; crabbed.

cramped

/ kræmpt /

adjective

1. closed in; restricted
2. (esp of handwriting) small and irregular; difficult to read

Other Words From

• crampedness noun

Word History and Origins

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

I’m glad to at least see some recognition that these workers are on the front lines of this pandemic in so many ways, interacting with customers in person, waiting on people without masks, working in cramped kitchens.

From Eater

It’s cramped, and she fears her children aren’t getting the individualized attention in remote learning they need.

From Washington Post

They may also get a boost in durability because none of the delicate electronic bits need to be crammed inside of a cramped ear canal.

From Popular-Science

They faced language barriers, health disparities and a work environment that forced them into cramped spaces.

From ProPublica

It’s been tough, she says, particularly on her eighth-grader, who is learning to navigate virtual school from their cramped apartment.

From Washington Post

We were exposing the people of Bettiah to the unprotected dimensions of their cramped lives.

From The Daily Beast

After a day-long drive with three young children, we emerged from our minivan cramped, cranky, and dusty with junk food.

From The Daily Beast

Pro-Sisi residents in the cramped, narrow streets are welcoming as long as only their perspective is being heard.

From The Daily Beast

Her sister, Magda, is quarantined after catching tuberculosis aboard their cramped vessel, and her aunt is nowhere to be found.

From The Daily Beast

But while Paul may broaden his rhetoric, his outreach is cramped.

From The Daily Beast

She was putting her papers tidy again with calm fingers, while his own were almost cramped with the energy of suppressed desire.

From Project Gutenberg

I write a poor cramped hand, which I can hardly make out myself, and know very little about figures.

From Project Gutenberg

Not here, not in these cramped quarters, but out in the open let our meeting take place.

From Project Gutenberg

A little while after that they stopped at a water station, and most of the passengers got off to stretch their cramped limbs.

From Project Gutenberg

He shook his cramped limbs with as little ceremony as if Kano were a shrub, and then turned, with the evident intention of flight.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crowded
• narrow
• packed
• small
• tiny