tantamount
adjective
Did you know?
Although tantamount (from the Anglo-French phrase tant amunter, meaning “to amount to as much”) was used three different ways in the early 17th century—as a noun, verb, and adjective—the adjective form has since proven paramount to English users: it’s still in use while the noun and verb are obsolete. This is not to say that the adjective hasn’t experienced change over the years. While it was once acceptable to use tantamount in a variety of different sentence structures, nowadays it is almost always followed by the word to. And to use it before a noun, as in “the two old friends exchanged tantamount greetings,” would now be considered, er, tantamount to riding a penny-farthing or boneshaker onto the expressway.
Examples of tantamount in a Sentence
Tess Riski, Miami Herald, 27 June 2025
Plans to kill the tax credit by the end of the year would be tantamount to a death sentence for much of the residential solar industry and bring major layoffs, Ben Airth, policy director at Freedom Forever, told Semafor.
—Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 26 June 2025
But for decades, every attempt to do this effectively has been met with howls of protest, as though the slightest bit of regulation on the curriculum of a private school is tantamount to anti-American tyranny.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 23 June 2025
Storytelling seems tantamount to Doechii’s creative rise and fashion arc, working with stylist Sam Wolff along the way and a stellar glam team.
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 3 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tantamount
Cite this Entry
“Tantamount.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tantamount. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
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tantamount
adjective
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