trade-off

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trade-off

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Deverbal from trade off.

noun trade-offs · tradeoff

Any situation in which the quality or quantity of one thing must be decreased for another to be increased. In writing, there's often a trade-off between being concise and being complete.
Similar: compromise

Translations

Every language

noun situation in which one thing must be decreased for another to be increased

Español	dilema, sacrificio, disyuntiva
日本語	トレードオフ torēdoofu, 妥協 dakyō
中文	折衷 zhézhōng, 妥協 /妥协 tuǒxié, 取舍 qǔshě
Português	contraparte, dilema
Français	compromis
Deutsch	Kompromiss, Trade-off, Ausgleich, Abwägung, Zielkonflikt
Ελληνικά	αντιστάθμιση antistáthmisi, αντιστάθμισμα antistáthmisma
Română	compromis
Русский	компроми́сс kompromíss

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MLA

"trade-off." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/trade-off. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

trade-off. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/trade-off

Chicago

"trade-off." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/trade-off.

BibTeX

@misc{trade_off_2026,
  title = {trade-off},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/trade-off},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}