Acrobat

a skilled performer of gymnastic feats, as walking on a tightrope or swinging on a trapeze.
a person who readily changes viewpoints or opinions.
Contemporary Examples

acrobat death In 2004, Dessi Espana, a performer with Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey, fell 35 feet during a performance.
Thrills and Too Many Spills: The Dangers of the Circus Marina Watts May 4, 2014

Along the way he also picked up the skills to be an acrobat, a juggler, a wire walker, a trapeze artist, and a clown.
Giovanni Zoppé’s Real-Life Family Circus Malcolm Jones October 20, 2012

Leaning against the bar, the Chinese acrobat looks weary, though he says none of the tricks are difficult for him anymore.
A Mad Feast Is the Next ‘Sleep No More’ Nina Strochlic February 2, 2014

Everybody in her class was either a potential Van Gogh or an acrobat.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview Alex Belth February 15, 2014

The acrobat was twirling during her performance, suspended by a chiffon scarf.
Thrills and Too Many Spills: The Dangers of the Circus Marina Watts May 4, 2014

Historical Examples

We do not ask for a slavering flux of sentiment, or an acrobat’s display in gesticulation.
My Contemporaries In Fiction David Christie Murray

He must have been an acrobat of the first water to manage such a thing!
Boy Scouts Mysterious Signal G. Harvey Ralphson

He may be a boxer or an acrobat, or even a fair general gymnast.
How to Get Strong and How to Stay So William Blaikie

One of these young men is an acrobat, who will be one of us.
The Young Acrobat of the Great North American Circus Horatio Alger Jr.

Of course I have to cover at least fifty, stumbling over feet, and doing the acrobat to pass the men squatting in the trench.
‘Neath Verdun, August-October, 1914 Maurice Genevoix

noun
an entertainer who performs acts that require skill, agility, and coordination, such as tumbling, swinging from a trapeze, or walking a tightrope
a person noted for his frequent and rapid changes of position or allegiances: a political acrobat
n.

1825, from French acrobate (14c.), “tightrope-walker,” and directly from Greek akrobates “rope dancer, gymnastic performer,” related to akrobatos “going on tip-toe, climbing up high,” from akros “topmost, at the point end” (see acrid) + stem of bainein “walk, go” (see come).
text, product
A product from Adobe Systems, Inc., for manipulating documents stored in Portable Document Format. Acrobat provides a platform-independent means of creating, viewing, and printing documents.
Acropolis: the magazine of Acrobat publishing (http://acropolis.com/acropolis).
(1995-04-21)