trade off
verb
trade off is a verb meaning “To choose (something) in exchange for something else, where having both at once is not an available option” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled T-R-A-D-E-O-F-F.
What does trade off mean?
verb
- 1
To choose (something) in exchange for something else, where having both at once is not an available option.
In the entry-level product category, the engineers had to trade off maximal durability for affordable upfront cost.
- 2
To choose among options, where having them all at once is not an available option.
Part of being a competent engineer is knowing how to trade off appropriately among mutually exclusive options, depending on the specified requirements for each design.
noun
- 1
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce trade off?
- US
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-trade-off.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-trade-off.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of trade off
- tradeoff
- trades off present, singular, he/she/it
- trading off participle, present
- traded off participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Words people confuse with trade off
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: tradeoff (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Trade off in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense situation in which one thing must be decreased for another to be increased:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | compromis |
| German | Kompromiss, Trade-off, Ausgleich, Abwägung, Zielkonflikt |
| Portuguese | contraparte, dilema |
| Spanish | dilema, sacrificio, disyuntiva |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does trade off come from?
Deverbal from trade off.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).