View synonyms for payoff

payoff

[ pey-awf, -of ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the payment of a salary, debt, wager, etc.
the time at which such payment is made.
the consequence, outcome, or final sequence in a series of events, actions, or circumstances:
The payoff was when they fired him.
Synonyms: finale, upshot, climax
Informal. the climax of something, especially a story or joke.
a settlement or reckoning, as in retribution or reward.
Informal. a bribe.

yielding results, especially rewarding or decisive results:
The payoff play was the long pass into the end zone.

Origin of payoff¹

First recorded in 1910–15; noun, adjective use of verb phrase pay off

Critics accused Foster of giving Duke a payoff to stay out of the race; that was never proven.

If we enter with science and respect, the payoff will last generations.

They liked the way [the alternate ending] made the audience feel rather than just having a big payoff.

The risk of being wrong was small, but the potential payoff for being right was amazingly high.

He wants “more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe.”

De Quille had not missed the opportunity of his comrade's absence to payoff some old scores.

A cosmic pitch like this could bring a galactic payoff, whatever it might be.

"Now it's all over but the payoff," thought Jerry, waiting for Mr. Bartlett to make out the grocery slip.

And frequently no one suspects the direction the payoff finally takes.

It puts a premium not on salesmanship, but on what it needs most—intellectual production, the research payoff.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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