Meaning & use
crimp your style
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
to stop someone from behaving as they want or from doing what they enjoy
Grammar: Used with a possessive word before 'style': crimp my/your/his/her style. Often in negative sentences or after 'not'.
Patterns
- crimp someone's style
- not crimp someone's style
Bringing my younger brother along really crimped my style at the party.
She said that having her parents stay for the weekend wouldn't crimp her style at all.
The new dress code crimps everyone's style, so students are complaining.
Common combinations
- really crimp someone's style
- Having to share a room really crimped his style during the trip.
- not crimp someone's style
- Don't worry, a little rain won't crimp our style.
- crimp someone's style a bit
- The early curfew crimped her style a bit, but she still had fun.
- crimp your style
- He thinks wearing a tie will crimp his style.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cramp
- Used in the same idiom 'cramp someone's style'; it is slightly more common in British English.
- restrict
- More formal and general; it means to limit something, not specifically to spoil someone's freedom to enjoy themselves.
- hamper
- Formal; means to make progress difficult, not to interfere with someone's personal freedom.
Commonly confused: crimp your style or cramp?
crimp your style vs cramp
'Cramp someone's style' is a very similar idiom with the same meaning. 'Crimp' is less common but equally acceptable in informal speech.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'crimp your style' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The idiom means to limit someone's freedom to enjoy themselves, so 'The new rules really crimp your style' fits. The other options use 'crimp' with unrelated meanings or wrong grammar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “crimp your style”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.