on balance

Idioms  

1. Taking everything into consideration, as in On balance I think we've had a very good year. This expression, which in effect means “balancing all the factors involved,” was first recorded in 1719.

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Example Sentences

That A.I. detection is finally catching up is, on balance, a Good Thing.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026

“This is likely to be a messy quarter for Intel, but on balance we are feeling somewhat more positive as the agentic server CPU surge increasingly seems real,” wrote Bernstein analyst Stacy A. Rasgon.

From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026

According to the report, consumer spending increased slightly on balance across the country, led by high-income Americans.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Yet launching a conversation around mental health with an audience magnet as powerful as Radcliffe is on balance an excellent thing.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026

Does helping one person really matter, on balance?

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black