wiggle room
Space for maneuvering
Wiggle room is flexibility or latitude that allows for adjustment, negotiation, or maneuvering within constraints.
The phrase evokes the image of having just enough space to shift position when otherwise confined.
It appears most often in discussions of budgets, schedules, or negotiations: The contract doesn't give us much wiggle room on the deadline.
Leave yourself some wiggle room in case costs run higher than expected.
Permissible margin of freedom
- latitudeGeographic or personal freedom
- slackAbsence of tautness
- playRecreation or staged drama
- giveTo transfer possession
margin · breathing space · maneuverability · adaptability · looseness · tolerance · discretion · scope
Openness to multiple interpretations
- vaguenessAbsence of precision
- latitudeGeographic or personal freedom
- loopholeExploitable gap in rules
- gray areaAmbiguous, ill-defined situation
flexibility · discretion · subjectivity · open-endedness · leeway · looseness · elasticity · play
Negotiating mutually acceptable terms
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
- concessionYielding a point
- middle groundPosition between extremes
- trade-offExchange requiring sacrifice
give-and-take · terms · counteroffer · haggling · deal-making · settlement · mediation · arbitration
Added part or duration
- grace periodAllowed delay before consequences
- buffer timeScheduled margin for delays
- paddingMaterial for cushioning
- slackAbsence of tautness
extra time · cushion · flexibility · lead time · safety margin
Amount exceeding requirement
- contingencyUncertain possible event
- reserveSupply kept back
- bufferProtective intermediate space
- paddingMaterial for cushioning
overage · slush fund · safety net · rainy day fund · emergency fund · financial cushion · headroom
leeway
Permissible margin of freedom
give · margin · breathing space · maneuverability · adaptability · looseness · tolerance · discretion · scope · range
ambiguity
Openness to multiple interpretations
gray area · flexibility · discretion · subjectivity · open-endedness · leeway · looseness · elasticity · play
bargaining
Negotiating mutually acceptable terms
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
- concessionYielding a point
- middle groundPosition between extremes
trade-off · give-and-take · terms · counteroffer · haggling · deal-making · settlement · mediation · arbitration · back-and-forth
extension
Added part or duration
- grace periodAllowed delay before consequences
- buffer timeScheduled margin for delays
- paddingMaterial for cushioning
slack · extra time · cushion · flexibility · lead time · safety margin
surplus
Amount exceeding requirement
- contingencyUncertain possible event
- reserveSupply kept back
- bufferProtective intermediate space
padding · overage · slush fund · safety net · rainy day fund · emergency fund · financial cushion · headroom
- freefree, freed, liberated, released, unchained
- leewaylatitude, slack, margin, play, flexibility
- personal spacepersonal bubble, social distance, buffer zone, comfort zone, proximity
- hedginghedging, hedge, hedges, hedge bet, qualifier
- negotiablesoffer, deal, counteroffer, proposal, concession
- evasionevasion, avoiding, avoids, evade, dodging
wiggle roomrigidity
State of being unbending
inflexibility · zero tolerance · boxed in · straitjacket · locked in
wiggle roomletter of the law
Exact statutory language
by the book · black and white · cut and dried · no exceptions · inviolable
wiggle roomrigidity
State of being unbending
inflexibility · straitjacket · hard limit · zero tolerance · lockdown
room, rooms, roomy, wiggle, wriggle, wiggled, wriggling, wiggles, wiggling