In a manner that causes cramping, constraint, or uncomfortable restriction; with a limiting or confining quality.
From cramping (present participle of cramp) + -ly adverbial suffix. Cramp comes from Middle Dutch crampen, meaning to bend or contract forcefully.
This adverb captures something physical writers understood well—how tight shoes, restrictive clothing, or bad posture literally changes how you move and think, which is why medieval scholars complained about their conditions affecting their writing quality.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.