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
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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
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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:
“Uber’s platform advantage continues to compound: record consumers and engagement, and profitable growth across our business,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber chief executive officer.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
That advantage breaks down when companies have especially juicy payouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
“We had a competitive advantage from a coaching standpoint every game we went into,” said running back J.T.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Riders are thought to gain an advantage using 'body fairings'
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Surprisingly, after only eleven moves, he’d almost magically built a positional advantage.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
As AI competition intensifies, Taiwanese firms face the "challenge of having their core high-tech talent targeted and recruited by 'Chinese' companies, leading to the loss of their core competitive advantages," the statement said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
They might be "anti-fashion shoes" but they're "really comfy" and designed "orthopaedically" with footbed sandals like Birkenstocks offering the same advantages.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The costs to serve individual markets have gone up, he said, while the advantages of having a worldwide presence have gone down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Before the outbreak, Taco Bell had found its stride — and analysts say its operational advantages could carry it through the rough patch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Bigger European ships with sails had some advantages.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
"The size of the gap between the educational outcomes of children from more and less advantaged backgrounds is a scourge on our society," Julie McCulloch, chief executive of the EPI said.
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
“Sun Belt states are experiencing markets with the most advantaged buyers, while markets in the Northeast and Midwest frequently remain advantaged toward sellers.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026
“Cava continues to be an economically advantaged business model with high-potential for full national penetration,” wrote Ivankoe, noting that while near-term results are difficult to predict, the outlook is better than previously anticipated.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 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
“We urgently need a smart export-control strategy that applies robust export controls to deny our adversaries access to advanced technology, while advantaging U.S. companies,” McGuire wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 13, 2026
The administration wants to gain visibility into frontier capabilities without slowing American labs and advantaging China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
“Increased emphasis on these elements, we found, has the effect of advantaging the advantaged.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
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
It is self-love: worshipping thyself, comforting thyself, advantaging thyself, and regarding all others as either toys or slaves for that great idol, thyself.
From In Convent Walls The Story of the Despensers by Irwin, M. (Madelaine)
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.
