tantamount
adjective
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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
Peter Debruge, Variety, 17 May 2024
Some of them have argued that leaving is tantamount to handing over their assets to President Vladimir Putin’s allies.
—Dasha Afanasieva, Fortune Europe, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tantamount 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tantamount.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Tantamount.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tantamount. Accessed 31 May. 2024.
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tantamount
adjective
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