Cantonese
noun
Can·ton·ese
ˌkan-tə-ˈnēz 
-ˈnēs
plural Cantonese
1
: a native or inhabitant of Guangzhou, China
2
: the dialect of Chinese spoken in Guangzhou and Hong Kong
3
: a style of Chinese cooking that emphasizes fresh ingredients, subtle tastes, and relatively mild sauces
Cantonese
adjective
Examples of Cantonese in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The ads will appear in print, on subways, TV, radio, and social media, and will be written in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Bangla, and Creole.
—
Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2024
National security police questioned Chan about an essay contest the group hosted three years earlier for literature composed in Cantonese, the lingua franca of Hong Kong.
—Gina Anne Tam, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2023
Former Geranium head chef Will King-Smith and wife Megan Leung have been pulling in the crowds at Goldfinch with excellent Cantonese in a setting made for dates.
—Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Mar. 2023
The poll, conducted April 8-17 in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean, has a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.
—Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2024
Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean.
—Annie Ma and Linley Sanders, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2024
By 10, he was known as Ken and no longer understood Cantonese well.
—Madeleine Schwartz Soneela Nankani Tanya Pérez Brian St. Pierre, New York Times, 14 May 2024
Read More: China Is Cracking Down on Cantonese Language Advocacy in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is part of China but has had some autonomy since the British handover in 1997.
—Anna Gordon, TIME, 8 May 2024
Speaking in the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Chen demonstrated how to navigate one of the city's voting machines, which — because of a Voting Rights Act requirement — must display touch-screen menus in Chinese and Spanish in addition to English.
—Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 2 Apr. 2024
Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2024
National security police questioned Chan about an essay contest the group hosted three years earlier for literature composed in Cantonese, the lingua franca of Hong Kong.
—Gina Anne Tam, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2023
Former Geranium head chef Will King-Smith and wife Megan Leung have been pulling in the crowds at Goldfinch with excellent Cantonese in a setting made for dates.
—Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Mar. 2023
The poll, conducted April 8-17 in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean, has a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.
—Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2024
Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean.
—Annie Ma and Linley Sanders, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2024
By 10, he was known as Ken and no longer understood Cantonese well.
—Madeleine Schwartz Soneela Nankani Tanya Pérez Brian St. Pierre, New York Times, 14 May 2024
Read More: China Is Cracking Down on Cantonese Language Advocacy in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is part of China but has had some autonomy since the British handover in 1997.
—Anna Gordon, TIME, 8 May 2024
Speaking in the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Chen demonstrated how to navigate one of the city's voting machines, which — because of a Voting Rights Act requirement — must display touch-screen menus in Chinese and Spanish in addition to English.
—Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 2 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Cantonese.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near Cantonese
Cite this Entry
“Cantonese.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Cantonese. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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