trial balloon

noun

: a project or scheme tentatively announced in order to test public opinion

Examples of trial balloon in a Sentence

She's been floating trial balloons about a possible run for Congress.

Recent Examples on the Web

Leaks occur in every administration — and government officials can be the source — as a trial balloon to test how a potential policy decision will be received. —Tara Copp, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2025

This fight seems very much like a trial balloon, seizing on areas of law like immigration and military powers where the executive has particularly acute authority, and playing on the emotional narrative that this is about targeting bloodthirsty criminals, even if that narrative is false. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 Mar. 2025

While fintech relevant rules and regulations like 1033 seem likely to remain, albeit in neutered form, Elon Musk's trial balloon dissolution of the CFPB and the new administration’s broader tendency towards deregulation could open the door for predatory financial services practices. —Vikas Raj, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025

Democrats didn’t find Trump’s trial balloons funny at all. —Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 5 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for trial balloon

• afternoon
• forenoon
• honeymoon
• laocoon
• opportune
• pantaloon
• picayune
• tablespoon
• attune
• baboon
• bassoon
• buffoon