equivalent 1 of 2

as in counterpart
one that is equal to another in status, achievement, or value that huge mansion at the end of the street is the equivalent of five ordinary houses

Synonyms & Similar Words

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equivalent

2 of 2

adjective

Synonym Chooser

How is the word equivalent different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of equivalent are equal, identical, same, selfsame, and very. While all these words mean "not different or not differing from one another," equivalent implies amounting to the same thing in worth or significance.

two houses equivalent in market value

When would equal be a good substitute for equivalent?

While in some cases nearly identical to equivalent, equal implies being identical in value, magnitude, or some specified quality.

equal shares in the business

Where would identical be a reasonable alternative to equivalent?

Although the words identical and equivalent have much in common, identical may imply selfsameness or suggest absolute agreement in all details.

identical results

How are the words same and selfsame related as synonyms of equivalent?

Same may imply and selfsame always implies that the things under consideration are one thing and not two or more things.

took the same route
derived from the selfsame source

How does the word very relate to other synonyms for equivalent?

Very, like selfsame, may imply identity, or, like same may imply likeness in kind.

the very point I was trying to make

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of equivalent
Adjective
That's about 17 miles above sea level - equivalent to Earth's stratosphere. Bill Chappell, NPR, 27 May 2025 The game offers a food comparison equivalent to the calories. Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 27 May 2025 In 1992, the year before Clinton and his economic team gathered in the Roosevelt Room, the annual deficit was 4.5 per cent of G.D.P., and the total federal debt held by the public amounted to 46.3 per cent of G.D.P. Last year, the equivalent figures were 6.3 per cent and 96.2 per cent. John Cassidy, New Yorker, 26 May 2025 Here, 15 of the softest sheets that will convince you that crawling into bed at 9 p.m. is equivalent to self-care. Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 16 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for equivalent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for equivalent
Noun
  • Officials started making calls to counterparts Wednesday night to emphasize that, in their minds, nothing had changed and that process and urgency should be maintained.
    David Goldman, CNN Money, 29 May 2025
  • These organizations serve about 30 million Americans across all 50 states but are typically under-resourced compared to their counterparts at major health systems.
    Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
Adjective
  • China and imports Target's first-quarter comparable sales fell 3.8%, compared to analysts' estimates of a 1.08% decline.
    Siddharth Cavale, USA Today, 22 May 2025
  • That reverses a comparable store sales increase of 1.5% in the previous quarter.
    Anne D'Innocenzio, Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2025
Adjective
  • But Mbappe chose to distance himself from that debate and his opening season was different to Ronaldo’s.
    Guillermo Rai, New York Times, 28 May 2025
  • Young, a British Columbia native who played for three different colleges and spent seven seasons in the minors before playing for the Doosan Bears in South Korea last season, hit his fourth career Major League homer and his first since September 2009 with the Chicago Cubs.
    Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 28 May 2025
Adjective
  • The work of flattening out three-dimensional sculpture into a two-dimensional painting was analogous to intellectualizing and abstracting Blackness as media became more mobile in the early twentieth century.
    Delinda Collier, Artforum, 1 May 2025
  • Together, these provide a wealth of data that any neuroscientist would envy — analogous to a perfect map of a person’s brain, along with separate electrodes to monitor the activity of each neuron.
    Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The pair have known each other for a while, with Ferguson guesting on Hot in Cleveland and Malick appearing on Modern Family.
    Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 25 May 2025
  • Both programs allowed students from other countries to get an education at Harvard.
    Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 24 May 2025
Adjective
  • The Gleason score is created through something similar to a point system.
    Julia Gomez, USA Today, 20 May 2025
  • This is similar in size to the icy particles in Saturn's rings, for example, and the ice is likely frozen around motes of interplanetary dust.
    Keith Cooper, Space.com, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • In a corresponding move, the Royals recalled Nick Loftin from Triple-A Omaha.
    Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 24 May 2025
  • Moments Example of the hidden picture puzzles in the black/white images on the left; the corresponding real-world picture on the right.
    Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2025
Adjective
  • More: 'Adult money' and no college debt: Harris and Trump back alternative routes to good jobs Interest continues to grow in vocational and trade programs among young Americans as four-year college enrollments flag.
    Davis Winkie, USA Today, 27 May 2025
  • The desire for group consensus blocks out alternative points of view.
    John Blake, CNN Money, 26 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Equivalent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/equivalent. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.

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