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
Justin Chang is the minister of Community Outreach for Mandarin Baptist Church of Los Angeles, a multicultural church with services in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
—
Tavleen Tarrant, NBC News, 15 Jan. 2025
The Next Evolution of Cantonese Food: A wave of new restaurants are challenging diners to go beyond sesame chicken and crab Rangoon.
—Luke Fortney, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
In many languages, including Lao, Farsi, Yucatec, and Cantonese, taste turned out to be the most expressible sense.
—Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Embrace Singlish English is the main teaching language in Singapore schools, but in practice, most Singaporeans speak Singlish, a hybrid language reflecting the country’s multicultural history that blends English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese, and Tamil, and has its own grammar rules.
—Audrey Phoon, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for Cantonese 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Tavleen Tarrant, NBC News, 15 Jan. 2025
The Next Evolution of Cantonese Food: A wave of new restaurants are challenging diners to go beyond sesame chicken and crab Rangoon.
—Luke Fortney, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
In many languages, including Lao, Farsi, Yucatec, and Cantonese, taste turned out to be the most expressible sense.
—Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Embrace Singlish English is the main teaching language in Singapore schools, but in practice, most Singaporeans speak Singlish, a hybrid language reflecting the country’s multicultural history that blends English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese, and Tamil, and has its own grammar rules.
—Audrey Phoon, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for Cantonese
Dictionary Entries Near Cantonese
Cite this Entry
“Cantonese.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Cantonese. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share