border on

verb

bordered on; bordering on; borders on

1

: to have a border on (something) : to lie on a boundary of (something)

The area my ancestors come from borders on the Atacama Desert.

2

: to be very like (something) : to come very close to being (something)

The play's dialog borders on the ridiculous.

an enthusiasm bordering on fanaticism

Examples of border on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After an exciting few weeks, the 2026 FIFA World Cup wrapped up at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday with a very tense—bordering on unpleasant—contest between Spain and Argentina. — Vogue, 19 July 2026

Heavy rain by the Minnesota/Canada border on Friday may help with some fires, but the storms could also bring strong winds and lightning, which can spark new fires and create more erratic fire activity. — Kenton Gewecke, ABC News, 17 July 2026

None of these pronouncements has panned out; some have bordered on delusional. — Robin Wright, New Yorker, 17 July 2026

Northwestern State right-hander Dylan Marionneaux (4) throws a ton of strikes with a bunch of average pitches, highlighted by a big-breaking upper-80s cutter that borders on a slider. — Keith Law, New York Times, 16 July 2026

Rhymes for border on

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon
• epsilon