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Synonyms

unbalanced

American  
[uhn-bal-uhnst] / ʌnˈbæl ənst /

adjective

  1. not balanced or not properly balanced.

  2. lacking steadiness and soundness of judgment.

  3. mentally disordered; deranged.

    Synonyms:
    irrational, unsound, disturbed

  4. (of an account) not adjusted; not brought to an equality of debits and credits.

  5. Football. of or relating to an offensive line formation having more than three linemen on one side of the center.

unbalanced British  
/ ʌnˈbælənst /

adjective

  1. lacking balance

  2. irrational or unsound; erratic

  3. mentally disordered or deranged

  4. biased; one-sided

    unbalanced reporting

  5. (in double-entry book-keeping) not having total debit balances equal to total credit balances

  6. electronics (of signals or circuitry) not symmetrically disposed about earth or zero reference potential

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of unbalanced

First recorded in 1640–50; un- 1 + balanced

Explanation

When something is unbalanced, it's uneven or unstable. If your weight on a surfboard is unbalanced, you risk falling off. Things can be physically unbalanced, like a seesaw with only one kid on it, or more figuratively unbalanced. For example, your mom might think you have an unbalanced diet if you rarely eat vegetables, and you'd describe your high school education as unbalanced if you didn't take any math classes. Another way to be unbalanced is to be mentally ill or emotionally disturbed.

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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.

And while there had been growth, it had been "unbalanced", he said, with around a third coming from the creation of artificial intelligence data centres.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

By identifying a specific nitric oxide-TSC2-mTOR connection, the study offers a new framework for understanding how cellular signaling may become unbalanced in autism.

From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2026

But there is no serious dispute about its scale or how far it has unbalanced the markets.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 31, 2025

He also said that figure had been widely misinterpreted as 9,000 grooming gang cases and had led to "unbalanced reporting".

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2025

I duck into the record store, hoping to avoid the stares of anyone who saw me acting unbalanced on the sidewalk.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

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.