BARGAINING Synonyms: 83 Similar and Opposite Words

bargaining 1 of 2

noun

as in negotiation

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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

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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

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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

Union officials responded that same day to start the bargaining process. — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2026 More than 80% of Division I schools are public institutions, and their athletes would be state employees, outside the reach of federal labor law and, in many states, barred from bargaining at all. — Lamell J. McMorris, Sportico.com, 14 Sep. 2026 The union planned to conclude a contentious bargaining period with Stellantis on Friday. — Liam Rappleye, Freep.com, 11 Sep. 2026 The move comes after the latest bargaining session ended with no deal, according to Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa. — Wcco Staff, CBS News, 10 Sep. 2026 The deals additionally necessitate bargaining over the use of AI in the workplace. — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026 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 However, both sides have continued to meet at the bargaining table and negotiate. — Antonia Noori Farzan, The Providence Journal, 4 Sep. 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

More questions left unanswered For most of 2026, Latame Phillips has been the only person associated with Hunger Busters; after his resignation, all of the board members resigned and the interim CEO vacated the role days after agreeing to the job.

— Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
Here was our Wednesday scoop on UM agreeing to a deal with Nike, one of the most lucrative apparel deals in college sports history.

— Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 16 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

The results are splendid when the duo is dealing, but when the line comes off the ice, the quality of play decreases.

— Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
The grand jury’s findings that $10 million in Medicaid settlement money was diverted through nonprofits into political committees describe exactly the kind of self-dealing the Attorney General’s office is supposed to police, not participate in.

— José Javier Rodríguez, Sun Sentinel, 11 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

When an agentic workflow can apply recognition logic, flag edge cases and reconcile transactions in real time, the question isn’t whether to automate the handoff.

— Hemant Kapadia, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
But the underlying transactions, especially the possibility that money was transferred through illicit means, could invite a host of criminal-law ramifications, including fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 14 Sep. 2026