payoff

[ pey-awf, -of ]

noun

1. the payment of a salary, debt, wager, etc.
2. the time at which such payment is made.
3. 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

4. Informal. the climax of something, especially a story or joke.
5. a settlement or reckoning, as in retribution or reward.
6. Informal. a bribe.

adjective

1. yielding results, especially rewarding or decisive results:

   The payoff play was the long pass into the end zone.

verb phrase

1. 1. to pay (someone) everything that is due that person, especially to do so and discharge from one's employ.
   2. to pay (a debt) in full.
   3. Informal. to bribe.
   4. to retaliate upon or punish; pay back.
   5. to result in success or failure:

      The risk paid off handsomely.

   6. Nautical. to fall off to leeward.

Word History and Origins

Origin of payoff¹

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

Example Sentences

That could triple the financial payoff for shareholders, including Burry, whose investment firm owned 2 million shares.

From Washington Post

With that profile as backdrop, the few advertisers already on the app are now hoping the work they’re doing now leads to a big payoff down the line.

From Digiday

The companies asking for body photographs and videos think the payoff is worth the exposure.

From Washington Post

Now, however, opting into one of those services provides random companies with a lot more information than they need about you for almost no payoff.

From Popular-Science

These areas of open ocean beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any nation are generally considered high-effort, low-payoff fishing grounds, yet fishers continue to work in them anyway.

From Quartz

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• consequence
• outcome
• payment
• reward
• settlement