Meanings
- archaicnot comparableWith the use of cant (slang, jargon).
This is cantly called “talking to Bunkum:” an “honorable gentleman” long ago, having said that he was not speaking to the house, but to the people of a certain county in his district, which, in local phrase, he called “Bunkum.”
1828 September 27, “Miscellaneous: “Talking to Bunkum””, in Niles' Weekly Register (Third Series), volume 11, number 5, Baltimore, page 662 more examples
Will he do anything toward creating an effective police through the country, every part of which is, every night, in complete exposure to attacks of plunderers and ruffians? Or (to glance abroad) will he do anything for Greece, or anything to real, effectual purpose, for what is cantly named the Peninsula?
1852, “CXLII. To John Easthope, Esq., M.P.: Canning—Catholic Emancipation [Stapleton, May 23, 1827]”, in J. E. Ryland, editor, The Life and Correspondence of John Foster, volume 2, London: Henry George Bohn, page 27They must be aware that the press had teemed with comments on the case, and he had congratulated himself on seeing twelve gentlemen who were willing to put aside what was cantly called “Hookey Walkerism” and the other epithets that bad been hurled at the head of the unfortunate man, who had been held up to the contempt of the colony.
1886 June 11, “Law Courts. Supreme Court—Criminal Sittings. Thursday, June 10.: Y.M.C.A. Embezzlement Case”, in The South Australian Advertiser, volume 28, number 8626, Adelaide, page 6
Origin
From cant (“argot, jargon”) + -ly.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cantly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cantly
“cantly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cantly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cantly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cantly.
Source: cantly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.