trade-off
noun
- situation requiring choice of balance between desirable but incompatible features; a compromise
- trade off, exchange
Wiktionary
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree English trade offdeverb. English trade-off Deverbal from trade off.
- 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.”
“Individual episodes are still thrilling and often quite striking, give or take some pitch-black battle scenes. But the gradual ramping up of the plotting that has grown steadily in the past three seasons crossed some invisible Maginot line this year, where the formerly acceptable trade-offs of focus for fun are no longer quite so taken for granted.”