1
: a rope or wire stretched taut for acrobats to perform on
2
: a dangerously precarious situation
—usually used in the phrase walk a tightrope
Examples of tightrope in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Here’s what Lowe told me about walking that tightrope.
—
Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
Advertisement The President isn’t making that tightrope any steadier.
—Nik Popli, Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Bouwer credits his collaborators for helping walk the film’s tricky tightrope of making a largely two-hander feel expansive.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 Oct. 2025
The actors do cartwheels along a tightrope to nail the tone, which teeters between dark comedy and tragedy – quintessentially Lanthimos.
—Thomas Page, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tightrope
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Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
Advertisement The President isn’t making that tightrope any steadier.
—Nik Popli, Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Bouwer credits his collaborators for helping walk the film’s tricky tightrope of making a largely two-hander feel expansive.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 Oct. 2025
The actors do cartwheels along a tightrope to nail the tone, which teeters between dark comedy and tragedy – quintessentially Lanthimos.
—Thomas Page, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tightrope
Cite this Entry
“Tightrope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tightrope. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tightrope
noun
tight·rope
-ˌrōp 
: a rope or wire stretched tight for acrobats to perform on
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