Sentence:  Gottsched and his compeers seemed hopelessly infected with Gallomania, and the temple of the Muses had degenerated into a <WSD>funambulatory</WSD> platform, on which unwieldy Teutons ... were emulating agile Frenchmen in dancing on the tight-rope of pseudo-classicism, Lessing appeared, and with a dramaturgical scourge of small cords drove the mimes from the stage, shifted the scene, and inaugurated a new era for German art and culture. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Performing in the manner of a tightrope walker.