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

Among the key markets is the EU, which has sought to play a balancing act between Washington and Beijing — much to the former’s ire. —Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 5 Nov. 2025

Takaichi’s toughest balancing act may be China. —Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025

As always, though, everything is a balancing act. —Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025

Tariffs and the Fed's balancing act Focused on its dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment, Powell acknowledged the risk that tariffs could contribute to persistent inflation rather than a one-time adjustment if the pass-through to consumer prices is slower than expected. —Rachel Barber, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025

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