VocabauraVOCABAURA

cancel

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kansuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkænsəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled

  2. transitive

    To invalidate or annul something.

  3. transitivemedia

    To stop production of a programme.

  4. transitiveneologism

    To cease to provide financial or moral support to (someone deemed unacceptable); to disinvite. Compare cancel culture.

  5. transitive

    To cross out something with lines etc.

  6. transitive

    To mark something (such as a used postage stamp) so that it can't be reused.

noun

  1. A control message posted to Usenet that serves to cancel a previously posted message.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled

Used this way, cancel is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “cancel”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

cancel figurecancel buttonterms cancel

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • cancelledadjectiveInflected form

    No longer planned or scheduled.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • cancel outverbCompound term

    Wipe out the effect of something.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled

call off

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “cancel” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.