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poised

/pɔɪzd//pɔɪzd/·adjective
balanced and composed; ready and about to do something
Fig. 1 — A top is set spinning, and at first it lurches, its axis swinging a wide drunken cone as though it must go over at any second.
01Definition

Poised carries two linked ideas, both rooted in poise — weight held in balance. Emotionally it means composed and self-possessed, like a dancer holding a position without a tremor. Figuratively it means ready and on the verge: a company poised to expand, a change that feels imminent. In both senses the word captures a coiled, alert stillness — not rest, but balance maintained at the exact point where the next move begins, the way a system rests in fragile equilibrium.

02In use
  • iShe stayed remarkably poised during the interview, answering every question without hesitation.
  • iiWith record profits behind it, the firm is poised to emerge as the market leader within a year.
  • iiiBalanced on the precarious edge of the cliff, the climber stayed perfectly poised.
03Collocations
  • poised to
  • poised for
  • poised on the brink
  • perfectly poised
  • poised and confident

Family poise (noun)

04Relations

=composed, balanced, self-assured, collected, ready

≠flustered, clumsy, agitated

06TOEFL & IELTS

Two senses to keep apart. The 'ready / about to' sense — 'poised to + verb' — is gold for IELTS Writing Task 2 on trends and predictions ('India is poised to overtake…'). The 'composed' sense suits Speaking about character and performance. Don't confuse poised with paused. Collocations: poised on the brink/edge of, poised for growth.

07Asked
Does poised mean calm or ready to act?
Both, and the literal use bridges them: a pen poised over paper is perfectly still and one instant from moving. Applied to people it means composed — balance kept under pressure; applied to situations it means on the verge — poised to expand, poised on the brink. The scene above is the two senses fused: a top so balanced it looks motionless, and all of it is speed.
What does 'poised to' do that 'likely to' doesn't?
It adds readiness to the prediction. Likely to only rates the odds; poised to says the actor is already in position — resources gathered, stance taken, nothing left but the move. That is why business prose loves it: 'poised to overtake' flatters its subject with both imminence and capability. Note the grammar split: poised to takes a verb, poised for takes a noun — poised for growth.
Is calling someone poised a compliment?
Almost without exception — it praises composure that is holding under observation: interviews, stages, courtrooms. A poised speaker is not relaxed but balanced, which is exactly the difference the word guards. It admires control rather than ease — grace with something at stake — which is why recruiters, judges and commentators all reach for it when steadiness was the achievement.
Is poised one syllable or two?
One: /pɔɪzd/, rhyming with 'noise' plus a d. Learners often unpack it into POY-zed on the model of 'naked' or 'wicked', but this -ed is the regular past-participle ending, pronounced as a bare /d/ after the /z/. The same rule covers praised, raised and amazed — after a voiced sound, the -ed adds no vowel and no syllable.
What is poise, exactly?
The noun underneath: balance held with control, physical or social. It descends from Latin pensum, 'a weight' — to poise something was literally to weigh it in the hand — and the modern senses never left the scale: a gymnast's poise is weight managed against gravity, a diplomat's poise is pressure managed without a wobble. Poised is simply that weighing, achieved.