balancing act

noun

plural balancing acts

: an attempt to handle or deal with two or more things (such as obligations) at one time so as to satisfy often competing requirements

"It's a difficult balancing act between celebrating the past and making room for the future."

—Jeffrey Brown

Vegas might be the starkest example of what the hospitality industry faces across the country: a delicate balancing act between bringing back jobs and revenue and keeping workers and customers safe from a virus that's killed more than 100,000 Americans.

—Dave Jamieson

It's a balancing act between appreciation, education and safety. Earlier this year, London city council voted to tighten up a parks bylaw that restricts the amount of food residents can feed to wild animals.

—Megan Stacey

Examples of balancing act in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When setting rate targets, the Fed faces a balancing act between its dual goals of keeping inflation low and employment levels high. —Joe Walsh, CBS News, 30 Jan. 2026

The Fed is tasked by Congress to stabilize prices and promote full employment, a balancing act that became complicated after Trump unleashed a sweeping economic agenda last year that threatened both of those goals simultaneously. —Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 27 Jan. 2026

Politicians, especially those who want to remain in office, have to perfect a balancing act of appealing to the fossil-fuels-must-go crowd as well as constituents battling rising energy costs. —Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 20 Jan. 2026

The independence movement has become a balancing act between the island’s ultimate goal of self-determination and the need for Denmark’s financial support for essential services, such as health and education. —Sam Meredith, CNBC, 20 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for balancing act

• overreact
• abstract
• attacked
• attract
• contact
• contract
• detract
• distract
• enact
• exact
• extract
• hijacked