as in exchanges
a giving or taking of one thing of value in return for another
a trade-off in which a company got a celebrity spokesperson and a fading star got some much-needed cash
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Recent Examples of trade-offs
This is not a question of ideological differences or of the trade-offs inherent to building a diverse coalition.
—
Wyatt Williams, Harpers Magazine, 9 June 2026
The erosion of institutions comes with trade-offs, though.
—John Kennedy, VIBE.com, 9 June 2026
Accept the trade-offs No credit card can do it all and is the best in every situation.
—Jason Stauffer, CNBC, 8 June 2026
That certainty comes with trade-offs, though.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Over time, this could build the muscle memory needed to make trade-offs that benefit the company over any individual department’s interests.
—Adrienne Down Coulson, Fortune, 2 June 2026
Through Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, Alcott poses questions—about the essence of love, the potency of ambition, the importance of relationships, and the trade-offs among these things—that can be answered in many ways.
—Anna Holmes, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Isolated technology decisions then ripple across the enterprise, creating unintended consequences and making trade-offs difficult, if not impossible, to articulate in business terms.
—Kim Bozzella, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Like air travel, fast fashion, and so many indulgences of our era, drinking invites us to consider a gruelling litany of downsides and then decide whether the trade-offs are worth it.
—Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
Wyatt Williams, Harpers Magazine, 9 June 2026
The erosion of institutions comes with trade-offs, though.
—John Kennedy, VIBE.com, 9 June 2026
Accept the trade-offs No credit card can do it all and is the best in every situation.
—Jason Stauffer, CNBC, 8 June 2026
That certainty comes with trade-offs, though.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Over time, this could build the muscle memory needed to make trade-offs that benefit the company over any individual department’s interests.
—Adrienne Down Coulson, Fortune, 2 June 2026
Through Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, Alcott poses questions—about the essence of love, the potency of ambition, the importance of relationships, and the trade-offs among these things—that can be answered in many ways.
—Anna Holmes, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Isolated technology decisions then ripple across the enterprise, creating unintended consequences and making trade-offs difficult, if not impossible, to articulate in business terms.
—Kim Bozzella, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Like air travel, fast fashion, and so many indulgences of our era, drinking invites us to consider a gruelling litany of downsides and then decide whether the trade-offs are worth it.
—Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trade-offs
exchanges
Noun
-
An amendment to the city’s nutrition center budget, which preserves the program’s daily meal cap at 250 rather than reducing it to 200 as per staff recommendation, sparked the meeting’s sharpest exchanges.—
Walker Armstrong,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 June 2026
-
Initial public offerings from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI in the coming months could add close to $4 trillion in market capitalization to US exchanges, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.—
Jeran Wittenstein,
Fortune,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trade-offs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trade-offs. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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