Word.ws English Dictionary

can't but

can't but is the alternative form of cannot but.

Meaning of cannot but

Verb

cannot but (third-person singular simple present cannot but, no present participle, simple past could not but, no past participle)

  1. (no-past-participle, no-present-participle) To have to; to cannot help; to be unable to do otherwise than.
    • I cannot but applaud your zeal for preserving the purity of our language, both in its expressions and pronunciation, and in correcting the popular errors several of our States are continually falling into with respect to both.1789, Benjamin Franklin, “Letter to Noah Webster, December 26, 1789”, in E. Sargent, editor, The select works of Benjamin Franklin, published 1855, page 498

Forms of can't but

third-person singular presentcan't but
pastcouldn't but

Questions about can't but

What is can't but the alternative form of?
Can't but is the alternative form of cannot but.

Words near can't but in the dictionary

  1. can'st
  2. can't
  3. can't be bothered
  4. can't be fagged
  5. can't be fucked
  6. can't but
  7. can't carry a tune in a bucket
  8. can't complain
  9. can't do right for doing wrong
  10. can't even
  11. can't get enough

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: can't but (page history and authors); cannot but (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “can't but.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/can%27t_but. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.