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
They also sought better relations with the US as a counterbalance to their dependence on China, at a time when the Obama administration was making its celebrated "pivot" to Asia.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
As a counterbalance, then, we begin with that everfresh and exciting odium: the author’s formal introduction.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
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
But he cites longstanding maritime connections and the military police as reassuring counterbalances.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2023
There also need to be counterbalances and checks outside of government, such as independent journalism.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2022
Sometimes the personal element or spirit of a work is so pleasing that it more than counterbalances defects of form, and wins its way to the popular heart.
From Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism by Painter, F. V. N. (Franklin Verzelius Newton)
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
But the impact was small because rising import costs were counterbalanced by falling demand as imports and exports dropped and manufacturing activity contracted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
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
I was a vision that publicly counterbalanced the negativity surrounding Muslim identity in the United States.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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
From an economist’s view, hiking rates and counterbalancing the fiscal push is what the BOJ should do.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 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.
