verkramp

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans verkramp (“narrow, cramped”).

Pronunciation

• (General South African) IPA^(key): /fəˈkrʌmp/

Adjective

verkramp (comparative more verkramp, superlative most verkramp)

1. (South Africa) Politically conservative.
   • 1977, Alexander Steward, The world, the West, and Pretoria, page 212:

     Many a person when he enters for the first time the home of another these days inclines to ask himself, not whether the man is rich or poor, fond of dogs or gardening, but whether he is verkramp or verlig.

   • 1979, J. H. P. Serfontein, Brotherhood of Power: An Exposé of the Secret Afrikaner Broederbond:

     The Hertzog Group supporters were labelled verkramp, and the Vorster supporters verlig. The fact, of course, is that the vast majority of Afrikaner Nationalists were and are verkramp, and only a small minority verlig.

   • 1991, South Africa. Parliament, Debates of Parliament: Hansard (volume 9, issues 8-11, page 4171)

     He made a speech which suggested that this process must be inclusive, that everyone must be pulled into the process. That is the type of approach that we need from the NPA which gives the distinct impression that it is verkramp, is lagging behind […]

   • 2006, Sarah Britten, The Art of the South African Insult, page 25:

     Over the years, Afrikaners developed a reputation for being verkramp […]

Antonyms

• verlig

Related terms

• verkrampte