1
2
as in to bribe
to influence someone with a bribe
she paid off the security guard so that she could steal whatever she liked
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in profit
the amount of money left when expenses are subtracted from the total amount received
the payoff on the investment was only about $500
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pivotal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pay off
Jason Lange, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2025
The measure, led by Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), states the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) would pay off outstanding meal debt.
—Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 13 Mar. 2025
Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 6 Mar. 2025
And love is both the pathway to that connection and the payoff.
—Arianna Huffington, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pay off
Verb
Forty-one percent of respondents overall - and just 5% if Democrats - said Trump's policies would pay off eventually.
—Jason Lange, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2025
The measure, led by Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), states the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) would pay off outstanding meal debt.
—Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 13 Mar. 2025
Noun
So again, this is why teams pay these high prices: the potential payoff.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 6 Mar. 2025
And love is both the pathway to that connection and the payoff.
—Arianna Huffington, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pay off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pay off
Verb
-
There is a price to be paid for that much larger sensor though—the GFX100RF is larger and heavier than any of the X100 cameras.—
Julian Chokkattu,
WIRED,
22 Mar. 2025
-
Cutting-edge visual effects create a world of talking photorealistic animals that might as well be a nature documentary, and attention is paid to livening up the humor, with Billy Eichner’s funny, overdramatic meerkat Timon showing up everybody, including Beyoncé. 9.—
Brian Truitt,
USA TODAY,
22 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Tom Seidler, now the Padres’ vice president of community and international impact, bribed John’s 10-year-old son to work on his dad regarding the ubiquitous Petco park chant.—
Kevin Acee,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Mar. 2025
-
Sure, Zachary Beck has had his business absorbed into that of a more violent and ruthless arms merchant, but his sins are far worse than just bribing customs officials to avoid import duties on rugs or whatever.—
Chris Klimek,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The idea of an investment obligation is based on the French model so that the profits [from the streamers] don’t flow untaxed to the USA, so to speak.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
26 Mar. 2025
-
Southern European countries wanted contributions to be relative to their GDP and asked the EU to find other funding sources, such as the remaining profits generated by Russia's frozen assets.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Gherardi was a pivotal figure in the eyewear industry.—
Ryma Chikhoune,
WWD,
20 Mar. 2025
-
The task demanding such heroic efforts was to select the American wines that would compete in the reenactment of one of modern history’s most pivotal wine competitions.—
David Rosoff,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
San Diego college basketball teams are meeting the moment and making history.—
Kate Murphy,
Axios,
17 Mar. 2025
-
The government is due to meet later Sunday to discuss the disaster, according to Sky News, and are expected to announce a period of national mourning.—
Mark Davis,
Newsweek,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
In essence, people who lease a car today are helping to buy Tesla a fleet for tomorrow.—
Dev Patnaik,
Forbes,
18 Mar. 2025
-
But still, there’s nothing like the nerves of showing up on your first day of any job, let alone to have to shoot your most important scenes that really determined whether people buy into the movie or not.—
Brian Davids,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Connor McDavid, who assisted on Draisaitl’s decisive tally, has only 85 points to sit fourth in NHL scoring.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
The Athletic,
15 Mar. 2025
-
But in a manner which belied her age, Andreeva refocused in the decisive set by breaking her Polish opponent twice in the first five games and ran away to clinch her second victory over Świątek in as many tournaments.—
Ben Morse,
CNN,
15 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Travis weeks earlier cited as the deciding and unprecedented factor.—
Chris Vannini,
The Athletic,
9 Dec. 2024
-
As a result of the split, Sheboygan city residents play no deciding role in either of the two districts, which both lean heavily Republican.—
Journal Sentinel,
Journal Sentinel,
9 Jan. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Pay off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pay%20off. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share