the sum of
idiom
1
: an amount of (money)
I paid the sum of $500.
2
: the result of (adding two or more numbers together)
The sum of 5 and 7 is 12
3
: all there is of : the whole amount of
Working odd summer jobs has been the sum of my experience so far.
Examples of the sum of in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This type of striving 20-something comedy draws the unavoidable comparisons — Insecure for the influencer age, Girls for zillennials, Broad City out west — but I Love LA ultimately adds up to far more than the sum of its lineage.
—
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 2 Nov. 2025
These are not the best fits to the data points (dashed yellow line at right), which instead indicate that the sum of the masses of the three species of neutrino should be negative (black line at right), which is an unphysical solution.
—Big Think, 30 Oct. 2025
The whole—well, in this case, the duo—should be greater than the sum of its parts.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Oct. 2025
Being a better whole than the sum of the parts is a difficult challenge over the course of a 17-game season.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 26 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the sum of
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Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 2 Nov. 2025
These are not the best fits to the data points (dashed yellow line at right), which instead indicate that the sum of the masses of the three species of neutrino should be negative (black line at right), which is an unphysical solution.
—Big Think, 30 Oct. 2025
The whole—well, in this case, the duo—should be greater than the sum of its parts.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Oct. 2025
Being a better whole than the sum of the parts is a difficult challenge over the course of a 17-game season.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 26 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the sum of
Cite this Entry
“The sum of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20sum%20of. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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