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

And Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is likely headed towards again having to grapple with a hideous trade-off. —Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 28 Nov. 2025

In practice, an operator tracks both PUE (efficiency) and new metrics, such as the Energy Reuse Factor (ERF), to balance the trade-off. —Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 27 Nov. 2025

But spending less money on a machine like this comes with trade-offs. —Charlotte Hu, Popular Science, 27 Nov. 2025

Insisting on a tradeoff between the two as a trade-off is both unrealistic and unjust. —Brian Mukhaya, Time, 24 Nov. 2025

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