off balance

1

Out of equilibrium, unsteady, as in When learning how to ride a two-wheeler, it's easy to get off balance and fall, or She stood up and threw the canoe off balance. [Mid-1900s]

2

Surprised, unprepared, as in The teacher gives unannounced tests to keep the class off balance. [Second half of 1900s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Related Words for off-balance

lopsided, unsteady

Examples from the Web for off-balance

Contemporary Examples of off-balance

Libra The current cosmic climate brings temptation, potentially setting you off-balance.
Zodiac Beast: April 24-30
Starsky + Cox
April 23, 2011
Indeed, Congress confronted this same problem in 1933, when it investigated the off-balance sheet transactions of that era.
The Dodd Wall Street Charade
Frank Partnoy
March 15, 2010
The gaping hole in the bill involves a concept known as off-balance sheet accounting.
The Dodd Wall Street Charade
Frank Partnoy
March 15, 2010
That people were allowed to have all these off-balance sheets was like having a second set of books.
The End Is Near!
Jeffrey Leeds
March 5, 2009

Historical Examples of off-balance

Even when she was off-balance, her feet tapped out the elementary routine.
At the Post
Horace Leonard Gold
Retief put out an arm as the vehicle rounded a corner, just catching the ambassador as he staggered, off-balance.
The Yillian Way
John Keith Laumer
Youre not yourself; youre over-strained and off-balance and Im so frightfully sorry all this has fallen upon you at such a time.
Adrienne Toner
Anne Douglas Sedgwick
The second beam took Rynason in the left wrist and spun him off-balance for a moment.
Warlord of Kor
Terry Gene Carr