equilibrist

American  

[ih-kwil-uh-brist, ee-kwuh-lib-rist, ek-wuh-] / ɪˈkwɪl ə brɪst, ˌi kwəˈlɪb rɪst, ˌɛk wə- /

noun

1. a performer who is skilled at balancing in unusual positions and hazardous movements, as a tightrope walker in a circus.

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equilibrist British  

/ ɪˈkwɪlɪbrɪst /

noun

1. a person who performs balancing feats, esp on a high wire

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Other Word Forms

• equilibristic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of equilibrist

From the French word équilibriste, dating back to 1750–60. See equilibrium, -ist

Explanation

An equilibrist is a person who performs daring feats of balance. If you had to carry supplies across a sagging rope bridge with no handrails, being an equilibrist would help. Most equilibrists are performers who've mastered the art of equilibrium, such as circus tightrope walkers and high-wire acrobats. An equilibrist might balance on their hands, ride a unicycle, or perform atop a stack of chairs. A particularly daring equilibrist might walk across a steep canyon on a slackwire (a loose rope that can sway from side to side, unlike a tightrope) while juggling! The word equilibrist is sometimes used figuratively to describe someone balancing many different tasks and competing interests at once.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

equilibrist

The steward brought me my coffee, and, wedged by boxes and pillows, like an equilibrist, I sat up and drank it. 

From The Mutiny of the Elsinore by London, Jack

Nor do I see my way clear in providing for the steeple-climber, the equilibrist, the railroad president, or the tea-taster.

From Reveries of a Schoolmaster by Pearson, Francis B.

Besides her chief accomplishment she possessed wonderful strength and was a skilled equilibrist.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)

Trewey is nowhere as an equilibrist, compared to a gallant veteran who breakfasted at my table, this morning.

From A Frenchman in America Recollections of Men and Things by O'Rell, Max

Sometimes the subjects lean backward with all the grace of a perfect equilibrist, freeing themselves from the ordinary mechanical laws.

From Complete Hypnotism, Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism How to Hypnotize: Being an Exhaustive and Practical System of Method, Application, and Use by Alpheus, A.