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

The singer’s prolific career as a teen and young star was a bit of a balancing act, juggling acting and an earnest pop career, and balance seems to be a theme of the new tour as well. — Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 11 July 2026

Picking one out, Alexis Earman, founder of The Woodbury Home in Wilmington, North Carolina, says, is always a bit of a balancing act. — Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 6 July 2026

Packing for a trip is a balancing act between saving space and bringing all your (actual) essentials. — Sara Coughlin, Allure, 5 July 2026

That kind of balancing act is familiar to many young women entering music today. — Desjah Altvater, Forbes.com, 1 July 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