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

Those overlapping requirements have forced difficult trade-offs. —James Laporta, CBS News, 24 Apr. 2026

Chris Ong, Seatrium’s CEO, sees the Iran conflict sharpening what specialists call the energy trilemma, or the trade-off between energy security, affordable supply, and environmental sustainability. —Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026

The trade-off is less on-road refinement. —ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026

But in a blog post, Sutherland noted the location function came with a security trade-off. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 22 Apr. 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