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

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Etymology

Origin of equilibrist

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

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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

Or merely a feint to thrill us?—the feint of an equilibrist so secure that he can pretend to lose his balance?

From And Even Now by Sir Max Beerbohm

He was laboring over a gigantic treadmill, balancing like an equilibrist upon a revolving sphere.

From Rainbow's End by Rex Ellingwood Beach

All those who have followed with some attention Mr. Bourassa's course for the last twenty years, know that he is an equilibrist of the first class.

From England, Canada and the Great War by Louis-Georges Desjardins

At that time I was a contortionist and they called me the Snake-Man; then I became an equilibrist and adopted the name of Don Alonso.

From The Quest by Isaac Goldberg

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 Francis B. Pearson

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