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

Charting the group’s adventures in leftist activism, polyamory and animal husbandry, Bechdel pulls off a delicate balancing act. —Sam Thielman, New York Times, 20 May 2025

Figuring out how far apart to plant peppers is a balancing act. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 May 2025

This transformation requires a delicate balancing act. —Miles Ward, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025

The Fed has a delicate balancing act: trying to keep inflation on its downward trajectory while not stifling the economy. —Shannon Carroll, Quartz, 13 May 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