trade-off

noun

ˈtrād-ˌȯf 

1

: a balancing of factors all of which are not attainable at the same time

the education versus experience trade-off which governs personnel practices

—H. S. White

2

: a giving up of one thing in return for another : exchange

trade off transitive verb

Synonyms

• back-and-forth
• barter
• commutation
• dicker
• exchange
• quid pro quo
• swap
• trade
• truck

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

There are trade-offs between these new requirements, though, according to Columbia Business School finance professor Yiming Ma. —Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 20 June 2025

Several decades after Walters’ career, Cooper doesn’t have to make the same trade-offs that Walters did. —Lionel Lim, Fortune, 19 June 2025

Samsung Won’t Stop With The Galaxy Z Fold 7 The trade-off for the S25 Edge shedding all of that weight is battery life. —Janhoi McGregor, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025

Overall, the researchers say that their findings highlight a fundamental trade-off between LLM accuracy and environmental sustainability. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 19 June 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