tariff

noun

Definition of tariffnext
as in tax
a payment that must be made to the government in order to import or export certain goods The Townshend Acts, which imposed a tariff on many goods imported to North America, indirectly led to the American Revolution.

Related Words

Relevance

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 tariff Trump himself had campaigned on cutting child care costs by using tariff revenue, a plan that has yet to materialize. — Moriah Balingit, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026 Trump himself had campaigned on cutting childcare costs by using tariff revenue, a plan that has yet to materialize. — ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026 Coupled with sweeping tariffs on the entire world, many were concerned that nationalism may result in America ending up alone. — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026 The Jacques Delors Institute has proposed a WTO compatible quota system with in-quota tariffs and out-of-quota tariffs. — semafor.com, 20 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tariff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tariff
  1. tax
  2. levy
Noun
  • But a dollar paid in tax cannot also finance an engineer’s salary or a new production line.
    — Rick Lazio, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The Federal Trade Commission identifies unauthorized bank withdrawals, unfamiliar medical bills and fraudulent tax filings among the warning signs of identity theft.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of tax
Noun
  • This duty was layered on top of existing levies on Canadian lumber, and challenges have only managed to reduce the current tariff to around 35%.
    — Sebastien Chasse, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Those levies will be replaced with tariffs on certain valves, carpets, waste products and other goods, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.
    — Riley Beggin, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of levy

Browse Nearby Words

targets
tariff
tariffs
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tariff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tariff. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on tariff

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about tariff

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All