advantage

1 of 2

noun

ad·​van·​tage əd-ˈvan-tij 

1

: superiority of position or condition

Higher ground gave the enemy the advantage.

2

: a factor or circumstance of benefit to its possessor

lacked the advantages of an education

3

a

: benefit, gain

especially : benefit resulting from some course of action

a mistake which turned out to our advantage

see also take advantage of

b

obsolete : interest sense 3a

4

: the first point won in tennis after deuce

advantage

2 of 2

verb

advantaged; advantaging

transitive verb

: to give an advantage to : benefit

Government does not know how to strengthen all families, and no public policy avoids advantaging some families while implicitly asking others to wait in the queue.

—Martin Neil Baily

Phrases

to advantage

: so as to produce a favorable impression or effect

wishing to be seen to advantage

Synonyms

Noun

• better
• bulge
• catbird seat
• drop
• edge
• high ground
• inside track
• jump
• pull
• stead
• upper hand
• vantage
• whip hand

Verb

• avail
• benefit
• help
• profit
• serve

Example Sentences

Noun

Higher ground gave the enemy the advantage.

He has an unfair advantage over us because of his wealth.

His plan has the advantage of being less expensive than other options.

He lacked the advantages of an advanced education.

Speed is an advantage in most sports.

The company's only advantage over the competition is its location.

Applicants for this job will find that previous experience is an advantage.

Being able to set your own schedule is one of the advantages of owning a business.

Among the advantages of a small college is its campus life.

There isn't any advantage in leaving early.

Verb

there's no question that that bicycle racer was significantly advantaged by a great set of genes

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Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Bruins also outrebounded the Bulldogs 40-25 and had a 24-9 advantage in assists. —Scooby Axson, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2023

Trump also still has an advantage in a head-to-head matchup with DeSantis, with 51% supporting the former president and 40% supporting the Florida governor. —Chuck Todd, NBC News, 16 Mar. 2023

Blissfield went 7 of 23 from the floor in the half, but had a 19-11 rebounding advantage. —Brad Emons, Detroit Free Press, 16 Mar. 2023

At this stage in the season, rest is a huge factor, and the Clippers have a distinct advantage there. —Ian Firstenberg, Chicago Tribune, 15 Mar. 2023

Amazon says its Project Kuiper satellite broadband service has a day-one advantage over rival SpaceX’s Starlink, because its receiver hardware is so much cheaper to manufacture. —Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 15 Mar. 2023

After several years of declining ratings and the resulting telecast experiments and questions about the Oscars’ relevance, the 95th Academy Awards will have an unfamiliar advantage during Sunday’s ceremony: box office clout. —Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2023

Colfax is the only Sacramento-area team playing at Golden 1 Center this weekend, so the Falcons have a home-court advantage and also a 22-game winning streak to rely on. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2023

Instead, the House Financial Services Committee seems to have the early advantage to advance crypto legislation. —Leo Schwartz, Fortune Crypto, 8 Mar. 2023

Verb

Congress should rewrite the formula to advantage schools which enroll more low-income students. —Preston Cooper, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2023

If researchers have to pay for access to Twitter’s data, that will advantage established researchers and wealthy institutions, Freelon says. —Bykai Kupferschmidt, science.org, 8 Feb. 2023

This not-far-off prospect would advantage companies with advanced software platforms—and Tesla already ranks among the highest-tech software companies in the world. —Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2022

Please give us an example of how that works to advantage. —Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2022

Ultimately, a higher-cost regional aviation market may advantage upstarts like David Neeleman’s Breeze Airways, which focuses on underserved airports using the larger E-Jet and A220 regional jets. —Jon Sindreu, WSJ, 16 Sep. 2022

While the answer to the specific question was that in this climate zone there is no real gain or advantage one way or the other, another reader reached out with an extremely important point. —Mark Philben, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Aug. 2022

The commission’s maps cannot disproportionately advantage any political party. —Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press, 12 Dec. 2021

From the start of the Jackson County hearing, lawyers went back and forth, hammering each other with arguments before Judge Thomas Wilson seeking to allow — or keep out — testimony and jury instructions that could advantage them. —Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 10 Aug. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Noun

alteration (with initial a- taken as assimilated form of Latin ad- ad-) of Middle English avauntage, borrowed from Anglo-French avantage, from avant "before" (going back to Latin abante) + -age -age — more at advance entry 1

Verb

alteration (after advantage entry 1) of Middle English avauntagen, borrowed from Anglo-French avauntager, verbal derivative of avauntage, avantage advantage entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1549, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing advantage

• at an advantage
• redound to the advantage of
• take advantage of
• mechanical advantage
• to one's advantage
• to advantage

• at an advantage
• redound to the advantage of
• take advantage of
• mechanical advantage
• to one's advantage
• to advantage

Kids Definition

advantage

noun

ad·​van·​tage

əd-ˈvant-ij

1

: the fact of being in a better position or condition

gain the advantage

2

: benefit entry 1 sense 1, gain

3

: something that helps the one it belongs to

speed is an advantage in sports