as in frontier
located at or near a border
a borderline region that is claimed by both countries
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in almost
very close to but not completely
your answer was borderline rude, so I would advise you to be more diplomatic in the future
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in edge
the line or relatively narrow space that marks the outer limit of something
the actual borderline separating the two properties is now being disputed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of borderline
Tony Blengino, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2023
These tasty morsels are glazed with a sticky sweet cola- and soy sauce-mixture that packs a borderline obscene amount of garlic (six whole cloves!).
—Samantha MacAvoy, Good Housekeeping, 18 Jan. 2023
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Oct. 2019
Both teams came out hitting to start Game 2 and the intensity jumped another level after McNabb’s borderline hit on Kuznetsov.
—Adam Candee, Detroit Free Press, 30 May 2018
Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
This might sound ridiculous to anyone outside the hive, but Swift actively encourages this kind of analysis and listicle-bait with borderline psychotic schemes.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for borderline
Adjective
Springs’ slider is a viable third offering, a borderline average pitch, but when your top two offerings are doing work, average is just fine.
—Tony Blengino, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2023
These tasty morsels are glazed with a sticky sweet cola- and soy sauce-mixture that packs a borderline obscene amount of garlic (six whole cloves!).
—Samantha MacAvoy, Good Housekeeping, 18 Jan. 2023
Adverb
Fringe-y/borderline/ticking-time-bomb people are always out there and probably have active imaginations that go way beyond what sometimes pops up in movies.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Oct. 2019
Both teams came out hitting to start Game 2 and the intensity jumped another level after McNabb’s borderline hit on Kuznetsov.
—Adam Candee, Detroit Free Press, 30 May 2018
Noun
All this flattery appears to be sincere—a version of the hyper-specific, borderline-surreal praise that Leslie piled on her bestie, Ann.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
This might sound ridiculous to anyone outside the hive, but Swift actively encourages this kind of analysis and listicle-bait with borderline psychotic schemes.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for borderline
Recent Examples of Synonyms for borderline
Adverb
-
Shooting in VistaVision is almost definitely making a comeback and will be seen again.—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
14 Oct. 2025
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D’Angelo wrote, arranged, and performed almost the entire album album by himself, with some additional contributions coming from Saadiq, Q-Tip, and his main collaborator, A Tribe Called Quest’s go-to engineer Bob Power.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Jayden Fraser added a two-point rush, giving his team an 8-7 edge at intermission.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
17 Oct. 2025
-
In the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) attempted to move forward with a vote on a full-year Defense appropriations bill on Thursday to gain some favor with Senate Democrats on the edge about the shutdown.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
More prosaically, the relative underperformance of the S & P Small Cap 600 (made up of profitable companies) to the small-cap Russell 2000 (where the majority are unprofitable) offers a nice impression of the race for more marginal names.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
14 Oct. 2025
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Meanwhile, anti-ship training exercises will be conducted in the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea, both marginal seas of the western Pacific.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Luckily, Amazon’s best-sellers chart is brimming with comfy lounge bottoms that were practically made for fall, including these $9 wide-leg Hanes sweatpants and these ultra-cozy baggy joggers from Walifrey.—
Melony Forcier,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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By selecting the birthplace of nuclear technology as the site for its first production facility, Radiant is symbolically and practically linking past innovation to future energy resilience.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Shannon will man larger perimeter players, but not necessarily the point of attack as often.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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For this Nuggets lineup, the average comes out to a pedestrian 6-9, with three capable perimeter defenders to assist the heavy-footed centers, two 40% 3-point shooters to space the floor, and a surplus of play-making talent.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
16 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Boise State had its 11th straight sellout Saturday night — a crowd of nearly 33,000 at Albertsons Stadium — but about half of the Bronco Nation that head coach Spencer Danielson likes to brag about didn’t come back after halftime.—
Jim Keyser,
Idaho Statesman,
12 Oct. 2025
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Continue adding stock, 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup at a time (about 8 to 10 times or about 6 1/4 cups stock), stirring occasionally, until nearly absorbed between additions; cook until al dente, about 18 minutes total.—
Marianne Williams,
Southern Living,
12 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Relations between the two economies had been cool since deadly border clashes in 2020.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
16 Oct. 2025
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In that sense, by hosting Muttaqi, Delhi may have deepened the growing rupture between Afghanistan and Pakistan that was on display during the recent border clashes.—
Happymon Jacob,
Time,
16 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
But with that said, the city has a fairly robust public transportation system, so out-of-town visitors can get around on Long Beach Transit buses.—
Cu Fleshman,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Oct. 2025
-
Before that, former President Barack Obama oversaw fairly sustained deficit reduction, but that was only after Tea Party Republicans forced his hand in response to his $1 trillion deficit expansion in 2009.—
Tiana Lowe Doescher,
The Washington Examiner,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Borderline.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/borderline. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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