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

But before buying big, weigh the trade-offs in terms of liquidity, storage and your investment timeline carefully. —Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 18 Feb. 2026

That’s a good trade-off for the NBA, because the more voices amplifying the league, the better. —Jason Jones, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2026

At the same time, there may be reasons that the lower sales price is a trade-off the homeowner is willing to make. —Sarah Agostino, CNBC, 14 Feb. 2026

People weren’t asked to execute tasks handed down from above, they were expected to understand the business impact of their work, make trade-offs, and own the result from day one. —Julio Martínez, Fortune, 13 Feb. 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