tantamount

play

What It Means

Tantamount means “equivalent in value, significance, or effect.” It is sometimes confused with

Examples

“According to UNO, from a tweet that continues to resurface every few years ... if you attempt to stack a draw-2 on top of a draw-4, you’re playing the game wrong, tantamount to cheating. I scoff at such foolishness.” — Panama Jackson, TheGrio.com, 28 July 2022

Did You Know?

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.

Larger Vocabulary = More $$

Not enough people realize that it is our ability to use our language that will determine our place on the social pyramid–and that will also control, to a great extent, the amount of money we will earn during our lives. Research has shown over and over that a person’s vocabulary level is the best single predictor of occupational success (more info). Ready to reach the top? Subscribe and receive a new word daily via TXT!