tradeoffnoun [ C ]
also trade-off, us/ˈtreɪdˌɔf/us/ˈtreɪdˌɔf/a balancing of two opposing situations or qualities, both of which are desired:
The tradeoff in a democracy is between individual liberty and an orderly society.
A tradeoff is also a situation in which the achieving of something you want involves the loss of something else which is also desirable, but less so:
They both had successful careers, but the tradeoff was they seldom saw each other.