How to Use trade-off in a Sentence

trade-off

noun
  • The trade-off does come at a cost — or rather a lack of one.
    Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 15 Nov. 2023
  • The trade-off is that they're designed to last for a long time.
    Good Housekeeping, 24 Aug. 2023
  • The speed of construction is a trade-off for the high cost.
    Gary Warth, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 July 2023
  • For Martinez, the trade-off has been more than worth it.
    Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2023
  • But for the price, these trade-offs are well worth it for such a gorgeous berry shade.
    Sara Gaynes Levy, Peoplemag, 17 Nov. 2023
  • That was the trade-off Ohtani sought in hopes of helping the Dodgers add more talent around him.
    Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2023
  • Cass: But is there some kind of trade-off being made here?
    Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 20 Mar. 2024
  • One major trade-off for speed has to do with how much stuff is on board.
    Eva Botkin-Kowacki, Popular Science, 21 Feb. 2023
  • That’s quite a trade-off — and great fodder for stories.
    Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 26 June 2024
  • That's a trade-off that pitchers have grappled with early in the spring.
    Alanis Thames, ajc, 2 Mar. 2023
  • The trade-off is that many offer a narrow window on the world, maybe an inch high.
    David Kelly, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2023
  • The very best high-yield savings rates often come with trade-offs.
    Martha C. White, wsj.com, 2 Oct. 2023
  • But their usage also points to a grim trade-off in the 18-month conflict.
    Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2023
  • The trade-offs for the C125 MF's low price are slower print speed and steeper toner costs.
    David English, PCMAG, 4 July 2024
  • The idea — pushed by some real estate agents — was supposed to be a trade-off.
    Andrew Khouri, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024
  • The trade-off for the weather is that animals are easier to spot thanks to the snow.
    Megan Dubois, Chron, 19 Mar. 2023
  • It would be based on a trade-off between things each side clearly wants.
    Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Free Wix comes with trade-offs, such as ads and limited tools.
    PCMAG, 30 Apr. 2024
  • The trade-offs wouldn’t be so stark if people were willing to change their lifestyles.
    F.d. Flam, Twin Cities, 4 Aug. 2024
  • Boers didn’t like the trade-off, because an assumption can of course be wrong.
    Sandra Upson, WIRED, 25 July 2024
  • The only trade-off is a slightly firmer, more fidgety ride.
    Howard Walker, Robb Report, 23 Mar. 2023
  • But the trade-off is worth it, with spectacular views the whole way up and down its switchbacks.
    Emily Pennington, Outside Online, 18 July 2024
  • But the trade-off for being able to fire up a one- or two-pound wireless speaker each night would’ve been well worth it.
    Will Palmer, Outside Online, 28 June 2024
  • For some, access to the world’s listeners is a worthwhile trade-off.
    Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
  • At the heart of the trade-off are Indonesia’s unrivaled stocks of nickel.
    Peter S. Goodman Ulet Ifansasti, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2023
  • At the beginning, the show was an experiment, and the tight budget was seen as a trade-off.
    Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 12 July 2023
  • Are the risks and trade-offs worth it for the average (not morbidly obese) person?
    James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2024
  • The trade-off is wider exposure that can help boost other sources of revenue.
    Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2023
  • But that’s a small trade-off for such a cool, refined, and substantial design.
    Michael Stefanov, Robb Report, 15 Aug. 2024
  • However, with a CD, the trade-off for a good interest rate is that your money is locked in for a set term of several months or years.
    Mike Winters, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trade-off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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