tantamount
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See equal.
Etymology
Origin of tantamount
First recorded in 1635–45; adjective use of obsolete noun, “that which amounts to as much, something equivalent,” itself a noun use of an obsolete verb, “to amount to as much,” from Anglo-French tant amunter or Italian tanto montare “to amount to as much,” from Latin tantum, neuter of adjective tantus “of such size, so great”; see tanto, amount
Explanation
When something is tantamount to another thing it is essentially its equivalent. For some animal activists, wearing fur is tantamount to murder. Tantamount often refers to an action or thing being compared to another greater action or quality, as in, “Missing your finals is tantamount to dropping out of college.” While the two sides are essentially equal, you would not say, "Dropping out of school is tantamount to missing your finals.” A related word is paramount, which means “the highest” or “primary.”
Vocabulary lists containing tantamount
100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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Life of Pi
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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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.
The claimants' lawyer, KP Law, stated that some of the information the defendants are calling for serves no clear benefit and is "tantamount to a full witness statement from each claimant".
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
"For his age, this is tantamount to a life sentence -- an extremely severe punishment," she said.
From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026
In his initial screen representations, Superman was an earnest representation of Americana—despite being from the fictional planet Krypton—and tantamount goodness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026
Some of Price’s City Council colleagues have said Price’s alleged crimes were tantamount to paperwork errors, and should have been handled by the city’s Ethics Commission.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2026
But this was tantamount to calling Lawrence’s bluff: at its current level of development, Ernest acknowledged, the calutron could produce enriched uranium fast but only in very small quantities.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
