cant
cant Lexical Profile
cant Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Hypocritical and sanctimonious talk, typically of a moral, religious, or political nature.
"The candidate's speech was dismissed by critics as hollow political cant designed to appease voters."
Language or jargon peculiar to a specific group, profession, or subculture (historically that of thieves and beggars).
"Seventeenth-century pamphlets often included glossaries to help ordinary citizens decode thieves' cant."
A slanting or tilted position; an oblique surface, bevel, or angle.
"The engineer adjusted the cant of the railway track to help high-speed trains navigate the sharp curve safely."
• verb
To tilt, slant, or cause to lean at an oblique angle.
"The heavy wooden deck began to cant dangerously to one side as the cargo shifted during the storm."
To talk hypocritically and sanctimoniously about moral or religious matters.
"He spent the entire evening canting about the virtues of austerity while dining at an extravagant restaurant."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'cant' with the contraction 'can't' (short for 'cannot'). Furthermore, 'cant' is an etymological homonym with two distinct origins: one branch relates to speech, jargon, and hypocritical moralizing, while the other relates to physical angles, slopes, and tilting.
• Rhymes for cant
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
In senses relating to speech, 'cant' derives from Latin 'cantare' (to sing), originally referring to the whining, chanting tone of beggars. In senses relating to slopes and tilting, it stems from Middle Low German 'kant' (edge or corner), ultimately from Latin 'canthus' (iron tire of a wheel).