tantamount

CEFRC1

/ˈtæntəˌmaʊnt/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Having the same effect or meaning as something else.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Something which has the same value or amount (as something else). (attributive use passing into adjective, below)

Examples

  • His request was tantamount to a threat.

  • Pushing a division by zero is tantamount to dropping reason.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈtæntəˌmæɔnt/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. To amount to as much; to be equivalent.

  2. Equivalent in meaning or effect; amounting to the same thing in practical terms, even if being technically distinct.

More examples

In context

  • Robson's proposal is tantamount to defending terrorists because they have a cause.

  • […] expecting the woman to take her attacker into physical custody is tantamount to preventing the arrest. If she could handle him, she probably would not need to call the police in the first place.

  • In Bosnia, as in Rwanda, however, passive neutrality was tantamount to complicity with the perpetrators of “ethnic cleansing” and mass murder.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The general's refusal to retreat was blank to a declaration of war because it would lead to conflict.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

First attested in English in 1628. Either inherited from an unattested Middle English borrowing from Anglo-Norman tant amount, from amunter, from tant (“as much”) amonter (“to amount to”) or borrowed in the early 17th century from Italian tanto montare (“to amount to as much”).