fine line

noun

: a very small difference
There's a fine line between being helpful and being intrusive.
There's sometimes only a very fine line between genius and madness.

Examples of fine line in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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An unwritten future From the onset, Dispatch has had to walk a fine line between telling a cohesive, engaging story and affording its audience the agency to determine where its various threads will go. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2025 Tagovailoa is often too honest in news conferences, but there’s a fine line that needs to be drawn when the entire world is watching and listening, and his misstep after the Chargers loss taught him that. Omar Kelly november 13, Miami Herald, 13 Nov. 2025 Being the oldest often means walking a fine line. Jenna Ryu, SELF, 11 Nov. 2025 Managing Dart’s rushing ability has always been a fine line, but Daboll has shown no interest in toeing it. Dan Duggan, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fine line

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Cite this Entry

“Fine line.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fine%20line. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025.

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