What does canting mean?
"Canting" is the present participle of "cant," a word with a rich and colorful history in English. Its dominant meaning today is speaking with insincere or exaggerated piety — the canting person mouths moral and religious sentiments they do not truly feel, making the word a byword for sanctimony and hypocrisy. A second, older sense refers to speaking in a whining or plaintive singsong tone, especially when begging. Most intriguingly, "cant" was historically the name for the secret jargon used by beggars and thieves in early modern England, documented in works such as the sixteenth-century rogues' literature that catalogued the underworld's private vocabulary. The word carries an unmistakably pejorative charge and appears chiefly in literary or critical prose, often to skewer preachers, politicians, or moralizers whose words outrun their conduct. Though less common in everyday conversation now, it remains a sharp, evocative term wherever hollow virtue-signaling needs naming.
Present participle of cant: to speak in a whining tone, to use the jargon of beggars or thieves, or to talk with affected, hypocritical piety.
"She accused him of canting about charity while giving nothing himself."
Rarely used as a plain progressive verb in modern English; usually encountered adjectivally.
Characterized by or given to insincere moralizing or pious posturing.
"The novel's canting parson is exposed as a fraud in the final chapter."
Common in nineteenth-century literary criticism and fiction.
"Canting" was once the very name for thieves' secret slang — the underworld had its own language, and it was called cant.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of canting
"Cant" entered English in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, first recorded as the name for the secret language of beggars and vagabonds. Its ultimate origin is uncertain, though one influential theory derives it from Latin "cantare," a frequentative of "canere" (to sing), which would make it a cousin of English words like "chant," "incantation," and "enchant." From the jargon sense it extended to mean whining, begging speech, and then to insincere, formulaic expressions of piety or morality. The participle "canting" developed alongside these senses and was well established by the seventeenth century.
Related word forms
How canting is actually used
Mostly literary or somewhat dated in modern usage; strongly negative connotation, implying hypocrisy rather than mere religious language. The adjective use ('a canting fellow') is more common than the bare participle in contemporary writing.
Easily confused with canting
Chanting means singing or intoning rhythmically, whereas canting refers to whining speech or insincere moralizing.
Cantering describes a horse moving at a canter, unrelated to canting's senses of whining or pious hypocrisy.