can't but

A form of cannot but — To have to; to cannot help; to be unable to do otherwise than.

Meanings

verbcan't but (third-person singular simple present can't but, no present participle, simple past couldn't but, no past participle)

past couldn't but

  1. alternativeno past participleno present participleAlternative form of cannot but.

    […] the man of letters can't but love the place which has been inhabited by so many of his brethren, […]

    1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Knights of the Temple”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 290
    2 more examples

    18th c, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope (later lines), Imitation of Horace, 1852, Charles Knight (collator), Half-hours with the Best Authors, Volume 4, page 188, But here a grievance seems to lie, / All this is mine but till I die; / I can't but think 'twould sound more clever, / To me and to my heirs forever.

    I'd weave through the throng — scanning for empties to return while flirting, sniffing out kids smoking grass and sharing smokes with Ivor and Carl on the door. With a name like Carl you can imagine a six-foot tall and wide bouncer, but Ivor...I couldn't but help to think of the name as belonging to a skinny Welshman getting sand kicked into his face. His name didn't do him justice — this guy was almost as big as Carl and probably faster with his fists.

    2004, David W. Scott, The Disillusioned: A Story of Our Times, Fraser Books, →ISBN, page 204
Cite this entry
APA

can't but. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/can't%20but

MLA

“can't but.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/can't%20but. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “can't but,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/can't%20but.

Source: can't but on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.