cant
/kænt/
"cant" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cant” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,928 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,928
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cant |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kænt/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #3,928 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cant” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cant is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kænt/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,928 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for cant, with forms such as "acnt", "cannt", and "cantt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CT", "car", "cut", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin cantō probably via Old Northern French canter (“sing, tell”). Doublet of chant. The correct English form is cant, spelled C-A-N-T.
Definition
- 1An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
- 2A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
- 3A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.
- 4Empty, hypocritical talk.
- 5Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
- 6A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.
- 7A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
Etymology
From Latin cantō probably via Old Northern French canter (“sing, tell”). Doublet of chant.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acnt,cannt,cantt,catn,ccant,cnat
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cant - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "cant"?
What does "cant" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cant"?
How do you pronounce "cant"?
What is the origin of the word "cant"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cant”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kænt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “CT” - see the side-by-side comparison. cant vs CT
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.