déséquilibrer

To throw off balance, literally (a piece of furniture, a person's footing) or figuratively (a budget, an ecosystem, someone's mental state). The pronominal form s'déséquilibrer isn't used — instead French says perdre l'équilibre for a person physically losing balance, reserving déséquilibrer itself mostly for one thing/person unbalancing another.

• Ce chiffre va déséquilibrer tout le budget. — This figure is going to throw off the whole budget.
• Il a été déséquilibré par un coup de coude. — He was knocked off balance by an elbow.
• La nouvelle loi risque de déséquilibrer le marché du travail. — The new law risks unbalancing the job market.

Learners reach for se déséquilibrer to say "I lost my balance," but French almost always uses perdre l'équilibre for that (j'ai perdu l'équilibre) — déséquilibrer is normally transitive, something or someone unbalances a person or thing, not a reflexive self-action.

Often confused with équilibrer.