counterbalance
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Contrast with equal weight or force.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kownterbaluhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkaʊntɚbæləns
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Contrast with equal weight or force
transitivefiguratively
To match or equal in effect when applying opposing force.
transitive
To apply weight in order to balance an opposing weight.
noun
figuratively
A force or influence that balances, checks or limits an opposite one.
literally
A weight that balances another weight
literally
A weight that is put in opposition to an equal weight so it keeps that in balance.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Contrast with equal weight or force
Used this way, counterbalance is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.