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

But Pashinyan has also sought to keep up a balancing act with Russia. —Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 8 June 2026

There’s darkness in those words but also open-hearted passion, and Iceage largely pulls off this balancing act between the two vibes across all of For Love. —Brendan Hay, SPIN, 2 June 2026

This has required a balancing act with creative copy in promotional materials. —Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 1 June 2026

There’s obviously a balancing act between practicing hard and staying healthy, but the bubble wrap approach under Schoen and Brian Daboll didn’t work, so a tougher camp should be welcomed. —Dan Duggan, New York Times, 21 May 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