Definition of tantamount
: equivalent in value, significance, or effect a relationship tantamount to marriage
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Examples of tantamount in a Sentence
His statement was tantamount to an admission of guilt.
They see any criticism of the President as tantamount to treason.
Recent Examples of tantamount from the Web
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While failure to pay interest would be tantamount to default for most debt securities, coupon payments on newer contingent convertible bonds, known as CoCos, are discretionary.
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Other St. Louisans are resisting the move, arguing that removing it would be tantamount to blotting out the history of the Civil War.
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On the other hand, in Trump’s book, not having the right kind of appearance is tantamount to a disqualifier.
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The decision — tantamount to murder — is a cosmic mix of creepy, amoral and understandable.
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Left-leaning opposition party Egyutt said the outcome of the ballot was tantamount to a no-confidence vote.
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Nothing in this movie is as mean or as frightening as the host of haters who went online when the movie was first announced and forbade it to exist, as if the rejigging of a Reagan-era comedy were tantamount to a reconstruction of the True Cross.
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Even publicly repeating details of the accusation is tantamount to blasphemy in its own right.
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This, the prosecutors said, was tantamount to letting Lon Robinson rummage through the state payroll department.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tantamount'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Tantamount comes from the Anglo-French phrase tant amunter, meaning "to amount to as much." This phrase comes from the Old French tant, meaning "so much" or "as much," and amounter, meaning "to ascend" or "to add up to." When tantamount first entered English, it was used similarly to the Anglo-French phrase, as a verb meaning "to be equivalent." "His not denying tant-amounteth to the affirming of the matter," wrote clergyman Thomas Fuller in 1659, for example. There was also a noun tantamount in the 17th century, but the adjective is the only commonly used form of the term nowadays.
Origin and Etymology of tantamount
obsolete tantamount, noun, equivalent, from Anglo-French tant amunter to amount to as much
First Known Use: 1641
TANTAMOUNT Defined for English Language Learners
tantamount
playDefinition of tantamount for English Language Learners
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: equal to something in value, meaning, or effect
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See words that rhyme with tantamount Spanish Central: Translation of tantamount Nglish: Translation of tantamount for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of tantamount for Arabic speakers
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