cant

cant — noun

1. insincere talk on topics of morality or faith, repeated by someone who does not

1.nounC1
Definition

insincere talk on topics of morality or faith, repeated by someone who does not genuinely hold those beliefs, just to seem virtuous or win trust.

Example

The politician's speech was full of religious cant, praising faith while taking bribes behind closed doors.

full of cant — describing hypocritical talk

Aiko grew tired of the cant at the charity gala, where guests praised helping the poor but gave nothing.

Common collocations
  • religious cant
  • moral cant
  • political cant
  • cant about virtue
  • empty cant
Synonyms
  • hypocrisy

    the quality of pretending to have beliefs you do not hold; cant is the speech, hypocrisy is the behaviour

  • empty rhetoric

    formal-sounding words without real meaning; similar register but broader than cant

  • platitude

    a boring, unoriginal statement; platitudes can be sincere but dull, while cant is always insincere

Antonyms
  • sincerity

    honest, genuine expression of one's true beliefs

Usage Note

Almost always uncountable. Frequently appears in the pattern 'cant about [topic]' to name the subject of the insincere talk. This sense carries a strongly negative judgement of the speaker.

Common Mistakes

He spoke cant to his friends about sports.
He spoke cant to the congregation about charity while cheating on his taxes.
Cant specifically implies hypocritical moral/religious talk, not just any insincere speech.

2. the private vocabulary of a particular social circle — for example, criminal net

2.nounC1
Definition

the private vocabulary of a particular social circle — for example, criminal networks, religious sects, or trade groups — often designed to keep insiders' conversations hidden from outsiders.

Example

The thieves spoke in a private cant that the police officers could not understand.

spoke in a private cant — typical verb + preposition pattern

Linguists study the cant of street vendors, noting how it changes from one city market to another.

Common collocations
  • thieves' cant
  • traders' cant
  • cant of the underworld
  • speak in cant
  • private cant
Synonyms
  • argot

    more academic term for secret vocabulary of a group; largely interchangeable with cant in this sense

  • jargon

    specialized language of a profession; jargon is usually technical rather than secretive

  • slang

    informal, non-standard vocabulary; broader and less secretive than cant

Usage Note

Distinguish from noun sense 1: sense 1 focuses on insincere moral speech, while sense 2 describes a genuine in-group vocabulary, often neutral in tone. Frequently followed by 'of [group]' or modified by a group name (thieves' cant, traders' cant).

Common Mistakes

Teenagers have their own cant.
Teenagers have their own slang.
For young people's informal words, 'slang' is the natural word; 'cant' is better for closed, secretive groups like criminals or trades.

cant — verb

cant — adjective

Word family

  • canted
    adjectiveC2
  • cantly
    adverbC2
  • canting
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

All four terms describe varieties of language used by particular groups, but they differ in secrecy, formality, and social scope. 'Cant' (sense 2) suggests a secret vocabulary deliberately used to exclude outsiders — historically associated with thieves, beggars, and criminal networks. 'Argot' is nearly synonymous but carries a more academic or literary flavour, often used by linguists writing about underworld speech. 'Jargon' refers to the technical vocabulary of a profession or hobby (medical jargon, computer jargon); it is about expertise rather than secrecy. 'Slang' is the broadest and most informal, covering casual, playful, or non-standard words used by any social group — teenagers, musicians, sports fans. 'Dialect' differs fundamentally: it is a regional or social variety of a language that includes grammar and pronunciation, not just specialised vocabulary. In practice, a pickpocket's cant keeps their trade hidden from the police, a doctor's jargon makes communication precise among colleagues, and a teenager's slang signals group identity — three different social functions expressed by these overlapping words.

argotjargon ↗slang ↗dialect ↗

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

The word 'cant' has two separate origins that merged into modern English. The hypocritical-speech meaning (noun sense 1 and verb sense 1) comes from Latin 'cantare' (to sing), via Old Northern French 'cant' (song). It was first used in English to describe the whining singing of beggars, then shifted to mean the special language beggars used among themselves, and later broadened to mean insincere or formulaic moral talk — as if the speaker were just 'singing a tune' without true feeling. The tilt/slope meanings (noun geometry sense, verb sense 2, adjective sense 1) come from a different source: Latin 'canthus' (iron tire of a wheel) and later 'canton' (corner), which developed into the idea of a slanted edge or angled surface. These two roots are unrelated but happen to share the same spelling in modern English.