diff --git a/stackvox/cli.py b/stackvox/cli.py
index 5279503..a47a6eb 100644
--- a/stackvox/cli.py
+++ b/stackvox/cli.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def _configure_logging() -> None:
 SUBCOMMANDS = {
     "serve",
     "stop",
+    "cancel",
     "status",
     "say",
     "speak",
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ def _configure_logging() -> None:
     subcommand="${COMP_WORDS[1]:-}"
 
     if [[ ${COMP_CWORD} -eq 1 ]]; then
-        COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "speak say normalize serve stop status voices welcome paths config completion install-helper" -- "$cur") )
+        COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "speak say normalize serve stop cancel status voices welcome paths config completion install-helper" -- "$cur") )
         return 0
     fi
 
@@ -155,6 +156,7 @@ def _build_parser(defaults: config.Defaults | None = None) -> argparse.ArgumentP
     _add_voice_args(p_serve, defaults)
 
     sub.add_parser("stop", help="Stop the running daemon")
+    sub.add_parser("cancel", help="Stop the current utterance without shutting down the daemon")
     sub.add_parser("status", help="Print daemon status")
     sub.add_parser("voices", help="List available voices")
     sub.add_parser("welcome", help="Play a multilingual welcome message")
@@ -388,6 +390,15 @@ def _cmd_stop(_: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
     return 0 if ok else 1
 
 
+def _cmd_cancel(_: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
+    # Interrupt the current utterance but leave the daemon running (no model
+    # reload). Nothing playing / no daemon is not an error.
+    if not daemon.is_running():
+        return 0
+    ok, _resp = daemon.cancel()
+    return 0 if ok else 1
+
+
 def _cmd_status(_: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
     installed = updates._current_version()
     if daemon.is_running():
@@ -530,6 +541,7 @@ def main() -> int:
         "normalize": _cmd_normalize,
         "serve": _cmd_serve,
         "stop": _cmd_stop,
+        "cancel": _cmd_cancel,
         "status": _cmd_status,
         "voices": _cmd_voices,
         "welcome": _cmd_welcome,
diff --git a/stackvox/daemon.py b/stackvox/daemon.py
index a0529f9..61be30e 100644
--- a/stackvox/daemon.py
+++ b/stackvox/daemon.py
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 
 Request shapes:
     {"text": "...", "voice": "af_sarah", "speed": 1.0, "lang": "en-us"}
-    {"command": "stop"}
+    {"command": "stop"}     # shut the daemon down
+    {"command": "cancel"}   # stop the current utterance, keep the daemon up
     {"command": "ping"}
+    {"command": "version"}
 
 Replies: "ok", "busy", "err: <msg>".
 """
@@ -203,6 +205,17 @@ def submit(self, req: dict) -> bool:
     def shutdown(self) -> None:
         self.stop_event.set()
 
+    def cancel(self) -> None:
+        """Stop the current utterance and drop anything queued, without shutting
+        the daemon down. Drains the queue first so the worker can't immediately
+        pick up a pending item, then aborts the in-flight playback."""
+        while True:
+            try:
+                self.queue.get_nowait()
+            except queue.Empty:
+                break
+        self.tts.stop()
+
 
 class _Handler(socketserver.StreamRequestHandler):
     def handle(self) -> None:
@@ -231,6 +244,11 @@ def handle(self) -> None:
             threading.Thread(target=self.server.shutdown, daemon=True).start()
             return
 
+        if command == "cancel":
+            state.cancel()
+            self.wfile.write(b"ok\n")
+            return
+
         text = req.get("text")
         if not text:
             self.wfile.write(b"err: missing text\n")
@@ -345,6 +363,12 @@ def stop() -> tuple[bool, str]:
     return send({"command": "stop"})
 
 
+def cancel() -> tuple[bool, str]:
+    """Stop the daemon's current utterance (and drop the queue) without shutting
+    it down."""
+    return send({"command": "cancel"})
+
+
 def ping() -> tuple[bool, str]:
     return send({"command": "ping"}, timeout=PING_TIMEOUT_SECONDS)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index ee23af0..0f0b633 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -523,3 +523,17 @@ def test_paths_and_config_route(self, mocker):
         mocker.patch.object(cli.sys, "argv", ["stackvox", "paths"])
         assert cli.main() == 0
         assert paths_handler.called
+
+
+class TestCmdCancel:
+    def test_running_calls_daemon_cancel(self, mocker):
+        mocker.patch.object(cli.daemon, "is_running", return_value=True)
+        cancel = mocker.patch.object(cli.daemon, "cancel", return_value=(True, "ok"))
+        assert cli._cmd_cancel(_ns()) == 0
+        cancel.assert_called_once()
+
+    def test_no_daemon_is_a_noop(self, mocker):
+        mocker.patch.object(cli.daemon, "is_running", return_value=False)
+        cancel = mocker.patch.object(cli.daemon, "cancel")
+        assert cli._cmd_cancel(_ns()) == 0
+        cancel.assert_not_called()
diff --git a/tests/test_daemon_protocol.py b/tests/test_daemon_protocol.py
index 0a906ee..c554f68 100644
--- a/tests/test_daemon_protocol.py
+++ b/tests/test_daemon_protocol.py
@@ -169,3 +169,11 @@ def test_send_helper_when_daemon_not_running(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     ok, resp = daemon.send({"command": "ping"})
     assert not ok
     assert resp == "daemon not running"
+
+
+def test_cancel_stops_playback_and_keeps_daemon_up(server: ServerHarness):
+    reply = _roundtrip(server.sock, json.dumps({"command": "cancel"}) + "\n")
+    assert reply == "ok"
+    server.tts.stop.assert_called()  # current utterance aborted
+    # unlike `stop`, the daemon stays up
+    assert _roundtrip(server.sock, json.dumps({"command": "ping"}) + "\n") == "ok"