trade-off

noun

ˈtrād-ˌȯf 

1

: a balancing of factors all of which are not attainable at the same time

Governments face a trade-off between privacy and increasing the effectiveness of tax collection.

—Ricardo Perez-Truglia and Ugo Troiano

2

: a giving up of one thing in return for another : exchange

trade off transitive verb

Synonyms of trade-off

• exchange

Examples of trade-off in a Sentence

a trade-off in which a company got a celebrity spokesperson and a fading star got some much-needed cash

Recent Examples on the Web

That illustrates the central trade-off of permanent daylight saving time. — Chris Hardesty, AJC.com, 23 July 2026

Second, the study challenges the belief that negotiators typically must trade-off economic gains for positive relationship building. — Michelle Travis, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026

The noise cancellation could be better, but the trade-off is a sick-looking pair of earbuds. — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 22 July 2026

And airlines would argue that these changes helped keep basic fares cheaper, but the trade-off is that passengers have way less space. — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 22 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for trade-off

• cerenkov
• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff

Kids Definition

trade-off

noun

ˈtrād-ˌȯf

1

: a balancing of things all of which cannot be had at the same time

2

: a giving up of one thing in return for another