Literary notes about tantamount (AI summary)
In literature, tantamount is often deployed as a powerful tool to signal that one action or notion bears the same weight or significance as another. Writers use it to draw a direct equivalent between concepts, suggesting that the implied meaning is as consequential as an explicit statement. For instance, a character’s silence can be interpreted as tantamount to an admission of guilt [1], or a seemingly minor public act can be seen as tantamount to making an important announcement [2]. Philosophers and historians alike have employed the word to equate ideas with profound ramifications, such as equating the abandonment of a principle with a betrayal of its very cause [3] or treating certain proposals as tantamount to rejecting established authority [4]. This nuanced usage deepens the reader’s understanding by linking behaviors and ideas with immediate, inescapable consequences.
- "This refusal to answer my questions is in itself tantamount to a confession," he said acidly.
— from Fantômas by Pierre Souvestre - Such a public step was tantamount to a kind of official announcement of her marriage.
— from The Chartreuse of ParmaTranslated from the French of Stendhal (Henri Beyle) by Stendhal - To hold such a conception of its character and functions would be tantamount to a betrayal of its cause and a denial of its truth.
— from The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh by Effendi Shoghi - For us to deprecate is tantamount to rejection of God.
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews by Thomas Charles Edwards
