Meaning & use
counteroffer or counter-offer
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Meanings
nouncountable
An offer made in reply to another offer, usually with different terms.
Grammar: Countable: 'a counteroffer', 'counteroffers'.
Patterns
- make a counteroffer
- reject a counteroffer
- accept a counteroffer
The seller rejected our offer and made a counteroffer.
After two days, they accepted the counteroffer.
She received a counteroffer from the company with a higher salary.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To make an offer in reply to another offer.
Grammar: Can be used with an object: 'counteroffer a price'; or without: 'They counteroffered.'
Patterns
- counteroffer an amount
- counteroffer with something
The buyer counteroffered with a lower price.
He counteroffered $5,000 less than the asking price.
Word forms
| plural | counteroffers or counter-offers |
|---|---|
| third person singular | counteroffers |
| past tense | counteroffered |
| past participle | counteroffered |
| -ing form | counteroffering |
Common combinations
- make a counteroffer
- The seller decided to make a counteroffer.
- accept a counteroffer
- They accepted the counteroffer after some thought.
- reject a counteroffer
- The board rejected the counteroffer as too low.
- counteroffer on a house
- We put in a counteroffer on the house.
- salary counteroffer
- She got a salary counteroffer from the new employer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- counterbid
- Similar, but often used in auctions or competitive bidding; 'counteroffer' is more general.
- reply offer
- Not a common term; 'counteroffer' is the standard word in business and law.
Word family
Commonly confused: counteroffer or counter-offer or offer?
counteroffer or counter-offer vs offer
An offer is the first proposal; a counteroffer is a reply to an offer, often changing the terms.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'counteroffer' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The preposition 'to' is used after 'counteroffer' when showing what it responds to. The other prepositions do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “counteroffer or counter-offer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.