advantage
Americannoun
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advantages
plural
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any state, circumstance, opportunity, or means specially favorable to success, interest, or any desired end.
the advantage of a good education.
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benefit; gain; profit.
It will be to his advantage to learn Chinese before going to China.
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superiority or ascendancy (often followed by over orof ).
His height gave him an advantage over his opponent.
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a position of superiority (often followed by over orof ).
their advantage in experienced players.
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Tennis. the first point scored after deuce.
verb (used with object)
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advantages,
present (3rd person singular)
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advantaged,
past participle, past
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advantaging
present participle
idioms
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to advantage, to good effect; advantageously.
The paintings were arranged to advantage on one wall.
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have the advantage of, to be in a superior or advantageous position; possess an advantage over.
By virtue of independent wealth, he has the advantage of his opponents.
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take advantage of,
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to make use of for gain.
to take advantage of an opportunity.
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to impose upon, especially unfairly, as by exploiting a weakness.
to take advantage of someone.
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noun
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superior or more favourable position or power
he had an advantage over me because of his experience
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benefit or profit (esp in the phrase to one's advantage )
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tennis
-
the point scored after deuce
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the resulting state of the score
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-
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to make good use of
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to impose upon the weakness, good nature, etc, of; abuse
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to seduce
-
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to good effect
he used his height to advantage at the game
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you know me but I do not know you
Usage
What are other ways to say advantage? An advantage is something that positions one well for accomplishing something. How is advantage different from benefit and profit? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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advantagesimple
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advantagessimple
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have advantagedperfect
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has advantagedperfect
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am advantagingprogressive
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are advantagingprogressive
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is advantagingprogressive
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have been advantagingperfect progressive
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has been advantagingperfect progressive
Past
-
advantagedsimple
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had advantagedperfect
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was advantagingprogressive
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were advantagingprogressive
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had been advantagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of advantage
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ava(u)ntage, from Anglo-French, Old French avantage, equivalent to avant “before” + -age noun suffix; see origin at advance, -age
Explanation
An advantage is like a head start in a race; it's that thing that gives you a better chance. The noun advantage also refers to a reward or benefit of some action or event. Being sick with the flu had the advantage of kick-starting your diet because you didn't feel like eating much. If you leverage the benefits, you are taking advantage of the situation. If you go on a business trip to Hawaii, you could take advantage of the opportunity and spend an extra day or two on vacation.
Vocabulary lists containing advantage
Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 1-10
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"Harrison Bergeron"
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Any doubt about the durability of their competitive advantage could diminish their appeal to investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Evolutionary theory therefore proposed that females might sometimes gain a greater evolutionary advantage by helping raise their sisters than by producing offspring of their own.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
The next inning, Tommy Edman expanded that advantage with a solo homer of his own off Gasser.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
If my marginal tax rate is likely to be about the same whether I convert now or pay the tax later, is there a meaningful advantage to doing Roth conversions in my situation?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
For it is a rare, brave soul who will stand up to a figure of authority in high dudgeon, a fact that Penelope now hoped to take advantage of.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
In a sport where the peloton used to pick its moments to exert energy, today's racing is "full gas from the word go" as riders try to find pace advantages in all areas of stages.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
It’s also true, however, that the tax advantages of defined contribution plans tend to skew toward wealthier households.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Omoto said the company was adopting Berkshire’s approach to capital allocation, directing investments toward businesses with competitive advantages and continued growth potential while reinvesting earnings in them over the long term.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Zuckerberg added that foreign labs hold advantages over US ones that have to comply with restrictions on training data.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Our archaeologist might have considered the possible advantages of a head start.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
“Our operations team demonstrated why they are the best in the business, putting us in an advantaged position to bring forward material value on our differentiated asset base.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said current tests and assessments in schools "set many students up to fail, overwhelmingly those from less advantaged backgrounds".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Counterintuitively, Ross said, smaller independent grocers are actually advantaged in the short term, as smaller stores tend to play in more localized markets than their major chain competitors.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods views BDC issues as liquidity-driven, seeing listed BDCs as structurally advantaged and a potential buying opportunity.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
We lived well, our days were mostly sunny, and I know that my parents were stoically undeceived by the objectively equivocal, contingent nature of the advantaged life they gave me and my siblings.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
The administration wants to gain visibility into frontier capabilities without slowing American labs and advantaging China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
“Past tech revolutions have tended to bypass older workers because they haven’t necessarily built those tech skills. But we’re finding that AI is advantaging those who have expertise.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2025
Further advantaging them might hamstring the promising open-source A.I. movement—a crucial area of competition—to the point of obsolescence.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2023
Smith agreed, pointing out laws advantaging employers at the expense of workers when it came to organizing into early forms of unions.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 14, 2019
Three powers advantaging a Chieftain most Are Peace and Justice and an Armed Host.
From A Celtic Psaltery by Alfred Perceval Graves
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
