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

Much of that balancing act could run through California, more than any other state. — Justine McDaniel, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Will Fricke, assistant town manager of Stowe, Vermont, says that setting policies to manage tourism is a balancing act. — Laina Gustafson, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Nov. 2026

The Serbian leader had long been seen as an unpredictable annoyance, and his balancing act wasn’t particularly subtle. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 27 Oct. 2026

But Democrats don’t have to share the spotlight with the president, so their balancing acts are not as delicate as those confronting their Republican opponents. — Julio Borquez, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 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