How to Use tantamount in a Sentence

tantamount

adjective
  • His statement was tantamount to an admission of guilt.
  • They see any criticism of the President as tantamount to treason.
  • On the far left, to be amarillo is tantamount to being a traitor.
    — Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 6 June 2022
  • Within a few weeks, the very notion of a choir would become tantamount to a dirty bomb.
    — Hank Shteamer, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2021
  • That was tantamount to ordering middle and high schools for girls to stay shut.
    — Margherita Stancati, WSJ, 23 Mar. 2022
  • What gives a being that’s tantamount to a jovial blank slate such staying power?
    — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Many felt failure to comply was tantamount to breaking the law.
    — Fortune, 27 May 2022
  • My patience for folks who think a glittery parade is tantamount to hate speech can't come to the phone right now.
    — Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, 19 June 2019
  • This post was tantamount to a review of your excursion.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 22 Nov. 2025
  • What is an annoyance for must of us is tantamount to a crime for audiophiles.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 13 May 2021
  • Its method of doing so is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.
    — Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 25 Mar. 2025
  • The Act is tantamount to a ban since there is no near-term plan for such a separation.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 17 Jan. 2025
  • Trying to convince these teens that the goods are not worth stealing seems tantamount to giving up.
    — Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 19 Feb. 2025
  • Standing still — even for a moment — was tantamount to suicide.
    — Josh Linkner, Detroit Free Press, 13 Sep. 2020
  • For me, that is tantamount to requiring a pool being filled with water.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2019
  • Gallant went on to invoke rhetoric that rights groups claimed was tantamount to announcing war crimes.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2023
  • In this light, losing one’s memory is tantamount to losing one’s sense of self.
    — Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 13 May 2025
  • The teachers aren’t asking for a pay raise — but their high-cost benefits are tantamount to a big pay cut.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Democrats, many of whom had once shunned Cheney as tantamount to a war criminal, lined up to shake his hand.
    — Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2025
  • To not oblige would be tantamount to confirming their fears that what had happened to me was the worst possible thing.
    — Jeremy O. Harris, Vanity Fair, 1 Apr. 2026
  • This would be tantamount to saying that Jack London was first and foremost a sailor.
    — Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Those charges are legally tantamount to the counts against Chauvin and carry the same penalties.
    — CBS News, 29 June 2020
  • But selling the store is tantamount to discarding his story.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Perez said, referring to the no-contest plea, which is tantamount to a conviction.
    — Gregory Yeestaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2022
  • In the demonology of the left, the Kochs are tantamount to Satan.
    — Jeff Jacoby, BostonGlobe.com, 15 June 2018
  • Taiwan has said the drills, affecting six areas around the island, are tantamount to a sea and air blockade.
    — Lily Kuo, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2022
  • For many people living on a few acres of some of the cheapest land in the country, that’s tantamount to an eviction notice.
    — Bill Heavey, WSJ, 3 Nov. 2022
  • Taking your eyes off Maradona was tantamount to going to the concession stand in the middle of the match.
    — Barry Wilner, Star Tribune, 26 Nov. 2020
  • Over that time, so much of it has made its way around the world that YouTube’s ban is tantamount to bailing out a sinking boat.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2021
  • Over the subsequent days, remembrances ran through my feed in waves of grief that felt tantamount to the passing of a celebrity.
    — Jamie Lauren Keiles Ismail Muhammad Kim Tingley Benoit Denizet-Lewis Sam Anderson Jazmine Hughes Irina Aleksander Sasha Weiss Rowan Ricardo Phillips Stella Bugbee Michael Paterniti Maggie Jones Robert Draper Rob Hoerburger Jason Zengerle Reginald Dwayne Betts Jane Hu David Marchese Hanif Abdurraqib Jenna Wortham Anthony Giardina Niela Orr Amy X. Wang, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2021

Some of 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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