Meanings
plural deal breakers · alternative deal-breaker · alternative dealbreaker
- An issue which causes a relationship or proposal, especially in business, to fail.
Near-synonyms: nonnegotiable (noun), prerequisite (noun), sine qua non
2 more examples
Sometimes the process of digging uncovered a deal breaker.
2004, Mark A. Williams, Your Identity Zones: Who Am I? Who Are You? How Do We Get Along?, page 294For Rosie, Carl’s attitude isn’t a deal breaker—not even close. It’s just a product of the bizarre wealth imbalances that the housing market is creating among young people.
2023 July 22, Barbara Speed, “‘We could soon see a Jane Austen-style marriage market’: how the housing crisis is turning modern dating on its head”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: nonnegotiable, prerequisite, sine qua non · Antonyms: dealmaker
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn issue which causes a relationship or proposal, especially in business, to fail.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 對方不會同意的條件 /对方不会同意的条件
- 對方不會同意的條件 /对方不会同意的条件 (duìfāng bù huì tóngyì de tiáojiàn)an issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
Dutch dealbreaker
- dealbreakeran issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
Finnish kynnyskysymys
- kynnyskysymysan issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
German Dealbreaker
- Dealbreakeran issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
Polish problem
- probleman issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
Russian камень преткновения, причина расставания
- камень преткновения (kamenʹ pretknovenija)an issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
- причина расставания (pričina rasstavanija)an issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
Spanish motivo de ruptura, factor innegociable / decisivo
- motivo de rupturaan issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
- factor innegociable / decisivoan issue which causes a relationship (especially in business) to fail
Cite this entry
deal breaker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deal%20breaker
“deal breaker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deal%20breaker. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deal breaker,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deal%20breaker.
Source: deal breaker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.