BARGAINING Synonyms: 83 Similar and Opposite Words

bargaining 1 of 2

noun

as in negotiation

Related Words

Relevance

bargaining

2 of 2

verb

present participle of bargain

as in negotiating

to talk over or dispute the terms of a purchase they bargained with the car salesman for half an hour before settling on a price

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in agreeing

to come to an arrangement as to a course of action I really hadn't bargained on buying a whole case of Girl Scout cookies, just a couple of boxes

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in arranging

to bring about through discussion and compromise bargained the price of the painting down to a figure that the artist could still live with

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 bargaining

Noun

That ultimately led to a courtroom battle when the city argued a new bargaining agreement was in place. — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 8 Sep. 2026 Johnson looked around the room during the bargaining session and counted 11 firefighters who had already been hired by other departments and were expected to leave Hialeah. — Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026 Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass said a key issue for the union in bargaining is coming to a contractual agreement on nurse-to-patient ratios. — Kristen Jordan Shamus, Freep.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Washington may believe that time and economic pressure are improving its bargaining position; Tehran may increasingly believe that the same process is closing its window for action. — Hamidreza Azizi, Time, 29 Aug. 2026 Those hundreds of hours of bargaining spread across months of back-and-forth negotiations eventually yielded a memorandum of understanding that was signed by the presidents of both countries in mid-June. — Justin Fishel, ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026 Its most recent bargaining contract, covering some 700 workers, expired in 2022, and union leadership and company have been unable to reach an agreement on a new contract since then. — Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026 Over the course of 23 bargaining sessions, the union and district representatives have negotiated on class size, wages and Special Education resources, among 57 total proposals. — Zachary Fletcher, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026 And neither side is inclined to move much this early in bargaining. — Evan Drellich, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026

Verb

Yet one or more of the P5 could inject new names at the last minute, once again leaving the decision to behind-the-scenes bargaining among a few powerful states. — Ian Johnstone, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026 The California Gig Workers Union hopes to begin bargaining by the end of the year, CalMatters reported. — Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026 Alongside promotions and deadlines, many young women are also privately bargaining with time and their bodies. — Anna Russell, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2026 This comes several days after Stanford football players created a campus chapter of the College Football Players Association, with the goal of collectively bargaining with the ACC. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 2 Aug. 2026 No deployment date has been set for Hyundai’s Korean plants at all, so the union is bargaining pre-emptively, trying to lock in protections before the humanoid robots show up rather than after. — John Koetsier, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026 The restaurant’s cliff divers, magicians, puppeteers and roving performers have been bargaining with management for more than a year, after officially voting to unionize in November 2024. — Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 9 July 2026 The ruling also reflected Sotomayor’s reasoning that owners and players were still bargaining in good faith and that salary policies were mandatory subjects of bargaining. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 6 July 2026 If an employer chooses to grant recognition, no election takes place, and the parties begin bargaining a contract that sets standards for wages, working conditions and benefits. — Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bargaining

Noun

This past legislative session, Linehan said negotiations broke down at the last minute to ensure nurse-to-patient ratios were met at each unit level.

— Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 6 Sep. 2026
The negotiations were followed by dinner with the Russian leader, according to a Kremlin press briefing.

— Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of negotiation

Verb

Still, there was much pomp and circumstance at the gala in July, and many thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing and jewelry plus plenty of vertiginous heels negotiating with the gravel.

— Sarah Douglas, ARTnews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
The five countries have been negotiating with governments mainly in Africa over potential sites, pioneering the initiative for the whole of the EU.

— Claudia Ciobanu, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of negotiating

Verb

In addition to the tackles, center Luke Fortner will make his Panthers debut after agreeing to a one-year contract to succeed Cade Mays, who left in free agency.

— Joseph Person, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Parents also don’t need to worry about calculating or agreeing to a funding tier during the ARD meeting.

— Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of agreeing

Verb

The case turned into a years-long legal saga, with multiple people convicted of their roles in arranging the hit, including Wendi’s brother, Charlie Adelson, and her mother, Donna.

— Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026
Britain’s populist Reform UK said two senior aides to leader Nigel Farage stepped down on Friday after an undercover investigation alleged the party had broken electoral law by arranging for a foreign donor to pay for political polling.

— NBC news, NBC news, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of arranging

Noun

But the impact on their salary structure could be massive, and GM Pat Verbeek has taken a ton of criticism for his hard-bargain ways.

— Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
These types of tasks are precisely what AI does best—and the bill for that bargain has now arrived.

— Hammad Ali Nasir, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of bargain

Verb

Any dealing by mainstream parties with AfD is particularly sensitive in view of Germany’s Nazi past.

— Kirsten Grieshaber, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2026
If Cease and the rotation keep dealing and Louis Varland and the bullpen can survive one more month, any offensive revival would make the Jays a real threat.

— Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of dealing

Noun

After some spirited haggling at a public hearing, Star City Council members on July 7 approved a development plan for a commercial center on the northeast corner of Highway 44 between North Moyle Avenue and Plummer Road.

— Noah Daly July 15, Idaho Statesman, 15 July 2026
No negotiating, no haggling, no surprises.

— Rancho Santa Fe Review, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 2026

Definition of haggling

Noun

Instead of bridges between markets being closed during a student’s time abroad, these platforms can typically offer similar pricing and more secure transactions across a wide range of products.

— Karen Koehler, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2026
By running a masternode, Clear Street embeds itself directly into the core consensus layer, taking on the heavy lifting of verifying transactions and steering network governance.

— Ethan M. Stone, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026