Word.ws English Dictionary

cramp someone's style

cramp someone's style verb: to restrict someone's free action or expression.

Verb

cramp someone's style (third-person singular simple present cramps someone's style, present participle cramping someone's style, simple past and past participle cramped someone's style)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To restrict someone's free action or expression.
    • I don't want my Mum to go to the party: she'd really cramp my style.
    • What are you doing? I'm trying to get a date, you're cramping my style!1987, David Simkins, Adventures in Babysitting (motion picture), spoken by Daryl Coopersmith (Anthony Rapp)

Forms of cramp someone's style

third-person singular presentcramps someone's style
present participlecramping someone's style
past participlecramped someone's style
pastcramped someone's style

Origin of cramp someone's style

In 1819, Charles Lamb wrote in a letter to Wordsworth: “I will never write another letter with alternate inks. You cannot imagine how it cramps the flow of the style.” Lamb’s letters were published in book form in 1837 and saw several editions and reprints. The letter was also included in volume 7 of the 12-volume book The Life and Works of Charles Lamb, thus appearing again in print at the beginning of the 20th century. It was again included in volume 6 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, which was first published in 1905. It is possible that the idiomatic use, which dates from the early 1900s, originated with this passage by Lamb.

Questions about cramp someone's style

What does cramp someone's style mean?
Cramp someone's style means to restrict someone's free action or expression.
What part of speech is cramp someone's style?
Cramp someone's style is a verb.
What is the past tense of cramp someone's style?
The past tense of cramp someone's style is cramped someone's style.

Words near cramp someone's style in the dictionary

  1. cramp fasciculation syndrome
  2. cramp iron
  3. cramp irons
  4. cramp ring
  5. cramp rings
  6. cramp someone's style
  7. cramp up
  8. Crampagna
  9. crampbark
  10. cramped
  11. cramped someone's style

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cramp someone's style (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-cramp someone's style.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cramp someone's style.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cramp_someone%27s_style. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.