cavort
verb
Simple meaning
To move about carelessly, playfully or boisterously.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhvawrtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kəˈvɔɹt
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To move about carelessly, playfully or boisterously.
informal
To engage in extravagant pursuits, especially of a sexual nature.
Play boisterously
originally intransitiveof horses
To prance, frolic, gambol.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Typical Use
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To move about carelessly, playfully or boisterously.
Used this way, cavort is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. Keep it for friendly, informal settings.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Playful and informal
Nearby words
- gambol , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to move about carelessly or playfully or boisterously
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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.