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bargaining

noun

Simple meaning

Discussing prices or conditions to reach an agreement.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

bahrgihning

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈbɑɹɡɪnɪŋ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The act of one who bargains.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The act of one who bargains.

Used this way, bargaining is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use bargaining

  • “He spent an hour bargaining over the price of the old antique clock.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

collective bargainingbargaining powerbargaining unitplea bargainingbargaining agreementbargaining positionbargaining processbargaining table

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • bargainnounBase word

    An agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • bargaining chipnounCompound term

    Leverage in the form of an inducement or a concession useful in successful negotiations.

  • collective bargainingnounCompound term

    Negotiation between an employer and trade union.

  • plea bargainingnounCompound term

    A negotiation in which the defendant agrees to enter a plea of guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutor agrees to drop a more serious charge.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.