imbalance
Americannoun
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imbalances
plural
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the state or condition of lacking balance, as in proportion or distribution.
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faulty muscular or glandular coordination.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of imbalance
Explanation
An imbalance occurs when you have too much of some things and too little of others. If you put so much pepper in your soup that you can't taste the other spices, then you caused an imbalance in your flavoring. It’s easy to remember the meaning of imbalance when you break the word into parts. You might recognize the prefix im- as a way to say “not.” Combine that with the familiar word balance, and you come up with something that is decidedly out of whack, or not balanced. It means that something is out of proportion, such as a trade imbalance between nations, meaning the amount of goods they sell to one another is not equal.
Vocabulary lists containing imbalance
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: in-, im-, il-, ir-
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im-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“The signal matters: attempts to contain borrowing costs without addressing the underlying fiscal imbalance may fuel concerns about financial repression and currency debasement,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
This disputed imbalance could lead to a legal battle, and Arizona has already set aside several million dollars for potential lawsuits.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Herman said she had to educate herself after suffering from a stroke believed to have been caused by a hormonal imbalance.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The city’s 3-to-1 imbalance of jobs to housing is one of the biggest in the country and a lure for builders, said apartment developer Chris Tourtellotte.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
The harmless shimmy, caused by a minor fuel mixture imbalance, rattled the payload.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
We’ve had water treatment failures, chemical imbalances brought on by malfunction, E. coli contamination, and the people of Flint, Michigan, of course, appreciate the criticality of clean water better than anyone in the country.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Teaming them up as a testy odd couple allows “Lanterns” to both highlight Hal’s insecurity and use the Green Lantern universe’s rules to interrogate systemic imbalances.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Current and former employees say there are power imbalances between the mortgage department and the financial advisers, who have threatened to call senior executives for help.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
For example, dehydration often causes a severe drop in blood pressure and imbalances in electrolytes like sodium and potassium.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
But later, after my mother lost her faith in God, that leatherette Bible wound up wedged under a too-short table leg, a way for her to correct the imbalances of life.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
