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

Bartos speaks about that trip with an admiration that borders on reverence. — Bethany Mandel, The Washington Examiner, 16 Aug. 2026

Joe is mostly effective as an enigmatic protagonist bordering on an unreliable narrator. — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2026

This may sound like optimism bordering on stubbornness, but there is logic behind it. — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2026

The second season continued this confusion with a time-travel story often bordering on incoherence. — Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Aug. 2026

Rhymes for border on

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