Words / C2

TANT-uh-mownt/ˈtæntəmaʊnt/

Tantamount means equal in effect to something, usually something worse or more serious: tantamount to agreement, tantamount to a refusal. Equivalent is everyday and cooler; as good as is informal. The pattern is tantamount to + noun/-ing. Formal. In speech, as good as or amounts to is enough. Tantamount does not mean identical in form — it means the practical upshot is the same. Do not use it for a mild likeness.

Meaning

Equal in effect to something worse or more serious (tantamount to).

Examples

• “Silence was tantamount to agreement.”
• “Silence was tantamount to agreement, and the minutes recorded it as such.”
• “Cutting the bus was tantamount to excluding the outlying villages.”

Good to know

tantamount to. Equal in effect (often to something graver). Formal. Everyday: as good as / amounts to. Close: equivalent (cooler). Effect, not identical form.

Near in meaning

equivalent

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