Synonyms of pay off

pay off 1 of 3

verb

1

as in to pay

to give what is owed for

I finally paid off the loan

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pay
• pay up
• meet
• settle
• balance
• spring (for)
• stand
• pony up
• ante (up)
• foot
• liquidate
• discharge
• quit
• clear
• recompense

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• repudiate

2

as in to bribe

to influence someone with a bribe

she paid off the security guard so that she could steal whatever she liked

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bribe
• get at
• buy
• lure
• have
• seduce
• poison
• provoke
• entice
• corrupt
• persuade
• square
• tempt
• lead on
• oil the hand of
• tamper (with)
• grease the hand of
• induce
• subvert
• spur
• motivate
• dishonor
• taint
• prostitute
• bait
• stimulate
• degrade
• debauch
• deprave
• debase
• trap
• defile
• pervert
• demean
• warp
• abase
• allure
• profane
• fix
• goad
• beguile
• flatter
• snare

payoff

2 of 3

noun

ˈpā-ˌȯf 

as in profit

the amount of money left when expenses are subtracted from the total amount received

the payoff on the investment was only about $500

Synonyms & Similar Words

• profit
• earnings
• proceeds
• gain
• return
• income
• salary
• net
• windfall
• lucre
• sales
• cleanup
• revenue
• payment
• wages
• killing
• pay
• compensation
• bottom line
• yield
• interest
• gross
• emolument
• remittal
• requital

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cost
• expense
• loss
• expenditure
• charge
• outlay
• disbursement
• outgo

payoff

3 of 3

adjective

as in pivotal

Related Words

• pivotal
• watershed
• decisive
• deciding
• earthshaking
• epochal
• momentous
• make-or-break
• crucial
• life-and-death
• cataclysmal
• critical
• crossover
• fateful
• crowning
• climactic
• culminating
• highest
• vital
• crestal
• apocalyptic
• go-no-go
• apical
• meridian
• climacteric
• high
• apogean

Dissimilar Words

• trivial
• insignificant
• unimportant
• anticlimactic
• inconsequential
• indecisive
• noncritical

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pay off

Verb

Quarterly reporting cycles do not reward discipline that pays off over a longer horizon than a single reporting period. — Hiren Dhaduk, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026

In Sunday’s game at Atlanta, which the Panthers won 34-3 to move to 1-1 on the season, Young’s work with new tight end Darren Waller each Friday paid off on one of the duo’s two TD passes in particular. — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 24 Sep. 2026

Noun

The payoff comes from stacking small wins, including bitter flavor cues that wake up the cephalic phase of digestion, fiber that feeds gut bacteria and nutrients that support overall health. — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Sep. 2026

The payoff of those 30 years spent experimenting, playing with ingredient permutations, and cultivating an international following is the dedicated pizzaiolo's delightfully airy where the devil is in the dough. — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Sep. 2026

Adjective

There’s little sense of forward motion in these tracks, but even when simply drifting in place, the blend of atmosphere and physicality—sunset glow meets seismic throb—is payoff enough. — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 4 Aug. 2026

Not wrong for much of the last three decades — but Saturday night’s gig, and all the joyous revelry surrounding it, showed why the Live ’25 Tour has been payoff enough for none of them to look back in anger at any of it. — Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 17 Aug. 2025