tradeoff

noun/ˈtreɪdɔf/

Frequency rank: #17,803 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

a balance achieved between two desirable but incompatible features; a situation where gaining one thing requires giving up something else.

Illustration for the English word “tradeoff”

Example sentence

Every engineering decision involves some kind of tradeoff, where you gain one benefit but lose another.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 17,801–17,900