"can't seem" meaning in English

See can't seem in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: can't seem [present, singular, third-person], couldn't seem [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|can't<can't,-,couldn't,-> seem}} can't seem (third-person singular simple present can't seem, no present participle, simple past couldn't seem, no past participle)
  1. Seem to be unable. Tags: no-past-participle, no-present-participle
    Sense id: en-can't_seem-en-verb-nyiNqMjf Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English negative polarity items, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 69 31 Disambiguation of English negative polarity items: 88 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 75 25 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 86 14
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see can't, seem. Tags: no-past-participle, no-present-participle
    Sense id: en-can't_seem-en-verb-TH-3X31n

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "can't seem",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "couldn't seem",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "can't<can't,-,couldn't,-> seem"
      },
      "expansion": "can't seem (third-person singular simple present can't seem, no present participle, simple past couldn't seem, no past participle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "69 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English negative polarity items",
          "parents": [
            "Negative polarity items",
            "Terms by semantic function"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can't seem to lift the box alone. Would you give me a hand, please?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Seem to be unable."
      ],
      "id": "en-can't_seem-en-verb-nyiNqMjf",
      "links": [
        [
          "unable",
          "unable"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "no-past-participle",
        "no-present-participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You can't seem bored when you're at a job interview. If you are bored, hide it!"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see can't, seem."
      ],
      "id": "en-can't_seem-en-verb-TH-3X31n",
      "links": [
        [
          "can't",
          "can't#English"
        ],
        [
          "seem",
          "seem#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "no-past-participle",
        "no-present-participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "can't seem"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English negative polarity items",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "can't seem",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "couldn't seem",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "can't<can't,-,couldn't,-> seem"
      },
      "expansion": "can't seem (third-person singular simple present can't seem, no present participle, simple past couldn't seem, no past participle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can't seem to lift the box alone. Would you give me a hand, please?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Seem to be unable."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "unable",
          "unable"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "no-past-participle",
        "no-present-participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You can't seem bored when you're at a job interview. If you are bored, hide it!"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see can't, seem."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "can't",
          "can't#English"
        ],
        [
          "seem",
          "seem#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "no-past-participle",
        "no-present-participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "can't seem"
}

Download raw JSONL data for can't seem meaning in English (1.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (f889f65 and 8fbd9e8). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.