counterbalance
Americannoun
verb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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counterbalancesimple
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counterbalancessimple
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have counterbalancedperfect
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has counterbalancedperfect
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am counterbalancingprogressive
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are counterbalancingprogressive
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is counterbalancingprogressive
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have been counterbalancingperfect progressive
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has been counterbalancingperfect progressive
Past
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counterbalancedsimple
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had counterbalancedperfect
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was counterbalancingprogressive
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were counterbalancingprogressive
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had been counterbalancingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of counterbalance
Vocabulary lists containing counterbalance
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:
“Badlands,” where Springsteen exhorts, “talk about a dream, try to make it real,” comes after “Tom Joad” as a counterbalance to the tale of hope and despair that precedes it.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
“This factor acts as a counterbalance to geopolitical optimism, limiting the magnitude of upward moves.”
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
Over the past year, some stores raised prices, cut costs and canceled plans to counterbalance more expensive imports.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 1, 2026
A classical stadium at its end would counterbalance the Greek-temple-inspired Lincoln Memorial at the opposite terminus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
“Listen, I know what happened earlier was heavy stuff. The deliverance prayer can be pretty draining. But can I tell you something that might counterbalance what you heard here last night?”
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
But as fertility rates fall, migration counterbalances the negative effects of an ageing population and labour force contraction, the report said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
This distant mass counterbalances the Local Group's gravity.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2026
There are moments of tender resplendence that are as piercing as the cruelty — compassion that counterbalances the inhumanities Elwood faces.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024
But he cites longstanding maritime connections and the military police as reassuring counterbalances.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2023
The mental distinction of being, as it were, forced to spring from one theme to another certainly counterbalances any supposed advantage in the scrapbook arrangement.
From Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17) Fun and Thought for Little Folk by Wheeler, Daniel Edwin
Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the opinions in Slaughter and Cook, handed them down as a paired set, as though one counterbalanced the other.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
Yet these worries have been counterbalanced in part by signs that the U.S. economy remains in good shape, with GDP growth remaining solid while the labor market is “hanging in there.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
This biography astutely portrays how “Diggs’s personal failures and weaknesses” counterbalanced his impressive professional strengths and prematurely ended a career of no little significance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
Their measurements found that during the day, green spaces are indeed cooler than the surrounding built-up areas, but this effect is often counterbalanced by increased humidity.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2024
A population’s inherent inclination to expand would be severely counterbalanced by the limitations of resources; its natural wont met by natural want.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
And then the relationship with Andi is so counterbalancing in a really delightful way.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Another is Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, which adviser Mike Casey, who is based in Alexandria, Va., suggested as a way to provide an inflation hedge for retirees — something that is important beyond simply counterbalancing stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 2026
AWS is crucial for Amazon’s appeal to investors, counterbalancing an online retail operation that is much larger in scope but delivers much thinner margins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
"Our research suggests that the counterbalancing temperature and emission feedbacks should be considered to improve the accuracy of climate change predictions in the Arctic."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2024
“I will here express but one sentiment,” Hamilton warned his Federalist colleagues, “which is, the Dismemberment of our Empire will be a clear sacrifice...without any counterbalancing good.”
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
