the sum total
noun
: the whole amount : the entire total of something
—usually + of
The sum total of the payments will be $28,000.
That's the sum total of what I know about cars.
Examples of the sum total in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And there, two minutes in, with 42 left to go, end the sum total of the album’s sunny moments.
—
Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Oct. 2025
Again, the visual clichés blunt the impact of both of these cruel fates, but the sum total of time spent with the Friedken brothers brings the core home.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
Similarly, Oliver could have coasted on the sum total of kind eyes and unflappable swagger, but Gallner lends him a potent romantic streak.
—Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025
This creator, in the true sense of the word, adds a touch here and there, drapes or lets fall the folds of a cape or a huge collar, borrows from all the epochs of fashion and interprets them all, and in the sum total, never fails to amaze us with his exquisite audacity.
—Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 7 July 2025
Three games, eight goals conceded and just a solitary point is the sum total of their efforts amid the ongoing celebrations.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Most policy changes other than tariffs will have small impacts on the short-run economic forecast, some positive and some negative but the sum total very small.
—Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
Eventually, the sum total of indexes constitutes a dictionary, in which each entry isn’t a word but a short sequence of DNA base pairs.
—Dmitri Pavlichin, IEEE Spectrum, 22 Aug. 2018
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Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Oct. 2025
Again, the visual clichés blunt the impact of both of these cruel fates, but the sum total of time spent with the Friedken brothers brings the core home.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
Similarly, Oliver could have coasted on the sum total of kind eyes and unflappable swagger, but Gallner lends him a potent romantic streak.
—Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025
This creator, in the true sense of the word, adds a touch here and there, drapes or lets fall the folds of a cape or a huge collar, borrows from all the epochs of fashion and interprets them all, and in the sum total, never fails to amaze us with his exquisite audacity.
—Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 7 July 2025
Three games, eight goals conceded and just a solitary point is the sum total of their efforts amid the ongoing celebrations.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Most policy changes other than tariffs will have small impacts on the short-run economic forecast, some positive and some negative but the sum total very small.
—Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
Eventually, the sum total of indexes constitutes a dictionary, in which each entry isn’t a word but a short sequence of DNA base pairs.
—Dmitri Pavlichin, IEEE Spectrum, 22 Aug. 2018
Cite this Entry
“The sum total.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20sum%20total. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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