Canted

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. Characterized by an angled position or tilt, it can also imply a skewed or partial viewpoint in dialogue or opinion, as well as suggest an artificial manner of expression in communication
2. Often describing something that is sloped or askew, it may denote a subjective approach to discussion or debate, alongside an unusual or exaggerated way of speaking or writing
3. Positioned with a noticeable slope or tilt ; reflecting a viewpoint influenced by partiality or bias ; exhibiting a manner of speaking or writing that seems forced or insincere

Etymology: The past tense "canted" comes from the verb "cant," which has at least two unrelated histories, and the one that matters for tilting is the older. In Middle English, "cant" meant an edge, a corner or a brink. It was borrowed from Middle Dutch "cant," meaning a point or side, and that word traces back to Medieval Latin "canthus," a word for the rim of a wheel or the corner of an eye. Tilting a thing was, in effect, lifting one of its edges, so the sense of "to set on an edge" grew naturally out of the noun. The verb was in use by the fifteenth century, and the noun followed in the sixteenth. The Latin root of the verb "cant" that means to speak insincerely or to sing is a different word, so the two should not be confused. "Canted" as a tilt is simply the past form of the edge-based verb, and it is also used as an adjective for something set at an angle.

Synonyms: tilted, slanted, inclined, oblique, angled

Antonyms: upright, level, straight, vertical, perpendicular