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
One man is dead, and four juveniles were arrested after an early-morning police chase ended in a deadly crash near the Warren-Detroit border on Thursday.
—
Joseph Buczek, CBS News, 18 June 2026
During courtroom breaks, the long line for the women’s room was a stark visual of the way this flood has ripped apart accusers and defenders of Camp Mystic—grieving mothers in lavender avoiding eye contact with willfully cheerful women in a green that now felt cloying, bordering on cruel.
—Karen Valby, Vanity Fair, 16 June 2026
Extremely mad bordering on mortally offended in Pittsburgh, where Dan Muse claimed Crosby had never been given an embellishment penalty in 21 years.
—Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 16 June 2026
The accommodation itself borders on absurdly indulgent.
—Arion McNicoll, TheWeek, 15 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for border on
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Joseph Buczek, CBS News, 18 June 2026
During courtroom breaks, the long line for the women’s room was a stark visual of the way this flood has ripped apart accusers and defenders of Camp Mystic—grieving mothers in lavender avoiding eye contact with willfully cheerful women in a green that now felt cloying, bordering on cruel.
—Karen Valby, Vanity Fair, 16 June 2026
Extremely mad bordering on mortally offended in Pittsburgh, where Dan Muse claimed Crosby had never been given an embellishment penalty in 21 years.
—Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 16 June 2026
The accommodation itself borders on absurdly indulgent.
—Arion McNicoll, TheWeek, 15 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for border on
Cite this Entry
“Border on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/border%20on. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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