Cavort
verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To prance, frolic, gambol.
"[…] when the young man whirled his horse, “hazed” Jupiter in circles and belaboured him with a rawhide quirt, […] He ceased his cavortings […]"
- 2 play boisterously wordnet
- 3 To move about carelessly, playfully or boisterously. intransitive
"And dragon-flies sported around and cavorted, / As poets say dragon-flies ought to do; […]"
- 4 To engage in extravagant pursuits, especially of a sexual nature. informal
"We can't even write stories about moguls like Rupert Murdoch or Barry Diller unless it involves photographs of them cavorting with young flesh."
Example
More examples"There once was a tiny sprite, much loved by children. She would frolic with the birds and the beasts in the forest, and sing songs, or play her flute; sometimes, she would visit the village, where the humans lived, and cavort with her favorite boys and girls."
Etymology
Originated in the United States in 1793, as cauvaut, applying to horses, probably from the colloquial intensifying prefix ca-/ka- + vault (“jump, leap”); later generalized. Early sources connect it to cavault, a term for a certain demeanor of horses. Alternatively, a variation of curvet.
Related phrases
More for "cavort"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.