商売|しょうばいshoubai[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. noun, suru verb, intransitive verbtrade; business; commerce
   地元じもとの店みせは観光客かんこうきゃく相手あいてに順調じゅんちょうな商売しょうばいをしている。↗

   Local shops do good business with tourists.
2. nounoccupation; calling; profession; job

• Synonym商業しょうぎょうNeutralCommerce as an industry (「商業施設」), a broad macro-level concept; 「商売」 is the concrete act of trading or a person's line of business.
• Synonym交易こうえきWrittenThe exchange or buying and selling of goods, often for historical or interregional trade (「南蛮交易」).
• SynonymビジネスNeutralLoanword for business and dealings in general (「ビジネスチャンス」), with a modern commercial flavor.
• Synonym営業えいぎょうNeutralOperating a business or sales activity (「営業時間」), leaning toward company-side operations.
• Synonym稼業かぎょうNeutralA trade one lives by, often with a self-deprecating nuance (「役者稼業」).
• Synonym事業じぎょうNeutralAn enterprise or business venture (「新規事業」「個人事業」), large or small, leaning toward organized operations.
• Synonym商いあきないWrittenNative noun for buying and selling, also sales or turnover; traditional flavor, mostly seen in written prose.
• Synonym売買ばいばいWrittenRead 「ばいかい」, a securities term for crossing (shares); 「売買」 in the ordinary sense of buying and selling is read 「ばいばい」.
• Synonym取引とりひきNeutralConcrete transactions and dealings (「取引先」), centering on the buying-and-selling relationship between two parties.
• Related通商つうしょうWrittenFormal written term for trade with foreign nations (「通商条約」); scope limited to international trade.
• RelatedトレードNeutralLoanword meaning trade or deals; also player transfers in pro sports. For doing business or a trade, 「商売」 is the usual choice.
• Related貿易ぼうえきNeutralInternational trade, importing and exporting (「貿易会社」); strictly trade between nations.
• Related商法しょうほうNeutralWays of doing business (「悪徳商法」) or, in legal contexts, commercial law.
• Related仕事しごとNeutralWork or occupation in the broadest sense, including salaried employment; 「商売」 is a trade or livelihood, as in 「役者という商売」.
• Related実業じつぎょうWrittenIndustry in the sense of production, manufacturing and trade (「実業家」); more formal, while 「商売」 is more concrete and everyday.
• Related互市ごしWrittenArchaic word for mutual trade with foreign lands, found in historical texts; modern usage prefers 「貿易」 or 「交易」.
• Related売り買いうりかいNeutralColloquial word for buying and selling, more casual than 「売買」; not used for a line of business.
• Related商うあきなうWrittenNative verb meaning to deal in goods (「雑貨を商う」), carrying a traditional flavor.
• Antonym遊びあそびNeutralPlay and pastime, standing opposite 「商売」 as a way of making a living.
• Antonym道楽どうらくNeutralA pastime or indulgence, also dabbling at the expense of one's proper work; the opposite of 「商売」.

Use 「商売」 for doing business or someone's trade. For commerce as an industry say 「商業」, for modern business 「ビジネス」, for international trade 「貿易」, for transactions and dealings 「取引」, and for an enterprise 「事業」. 「仕事」 is work in general, 「営業」 sales and operations, 「売り買い」 casual buying and selling. The opposites are 「遊び」 and 「道楽」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 商業しょうぎょうを営いとなむこと。あきない。
2. 職業しょくぎょう、生業せいぎょう、なりわい。