From William Hazlitt's essay *On the Ignorance of the Learned* (1821). Select the word that fits the blank. "The faculties of the mind, when not exerted, or when ______ by custom and authority, become listless, torpid, and unfit for the purposes of thought or action."

The blank is paired with *not exerted* by *or*. Both describe **bad** states of the mental faculties — Hazlitt's *or* links two ways the same outcome arises (listless / torpid faculties). The blank must therefore name a *constraining* or *restricting* condition imposed *by custom and authority*. "Cramped" — confined into a small space, restricted in scope — fits exactly. *Custom and authority* are the *constraints* that cramp the mind. - "Emboldened", "expanded", and "illuminated" are all positive states — they'd contradict the *or* linkage with *not exerted*. Metaphor extension: a *cramped* room is one where you can't move freely; a *cramped* mind is one whose movement is similarly restricted. Hazlitt's figure is physical-spatial.