borderline 1 of 3

adjective

ˈbȯr-dər-ˌlīn How to pronounce borderline (audio)
Definition of borderlinenext
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

borderline

2 of 3

adverb

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

borderline

3 of 3

noun

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of borderline
Adjective
And sure, six to eight weeks of emergency supplies might sound a little alarmist — maybe borderline doomsday prep-y. — Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2026 The Dillon one is actually borderline insane for a guy in an RCR car who understands how to get to the front at these types of races. — Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 11 July 2026
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
Swift, Cam Skattebo, Tyler Allgeier, Jordan Mason, Jaylen Warren and Kaelon Black are all in the 20% market-share bucket, in borderline-RB2 territory. — Michael Salfino, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026 The darkly comic tone of those scenes can feel borderline condescending — Did Brizé ever imagine that some people could perhaps find fulfillment in their office jobs? — Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for borderline
Recent Examples of Synonyms for borderline
  1. frontier
  2. almost
  3. edge
  4. marginal
  5. practically
  6. perimeter
  7. nearly
  8. border
Adjective
  • That worried Huang, who fears a Chinese rival, and White House officials, who believe Chinese dependence on non-frontier American chips is the best way to ensure a lead in AI.
    — Charlie Campbell, Time, 11 Dec. 2025
Definition of frontier
Adverb
  • Season three of Nobody Wants This is almost upon us, and Lupe has been making her rounds from New York Fashion Week to the red carpet, including while wearing a pair of these exact Talbot jeans.
    — Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 2026
  • More importantly, bonds are also almost certainly bigger than the traditional banking system—and probably crossed that mark sometime in the past decade, for the first time since both were invented a millennium ago.
    — Robin Wigglesworth, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of almost
Noun
  • Iris Law’s piecey pixie is parted to the side, with soft texture and a jagged, wispy bang for some edge.
    — Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Researchers recreated this underlying dynamics in a controllable quantum system and found that string breaking can begin at the edges before spreading inward.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of edge
Adjective
  • Speeding up expression itself doesn’t remove the main difficulty and yields only a marginal gain.
    — Illia Smoliienko, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Households in the highest federal income bracket pay a 37% top marginal income tax rate.
    — Kate Dore, CFP®, EA, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of marginal
Adverb
  • Wellbeing Butlers are at your beck and call to arrange reiki, gratifyingly strong massages in open air, cleansing Balinese ceremonies at the resort temple, or sunrise qi gong on the practically private sand.
    — Kathryn Romeyn, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Flats are a fashion staple that can be worn in practically every season (especially in the South).
    — Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of practically
Noun
  • Other complained in 2023 that an ice cream stand set up outside the camp’s perimeter sent the wrong message.
    — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • An offseason filled with roster shuffling continued Tuesday for the Charlotte Hornets, who completed a three-player deal with Atlanta to land another guard with perimeter shooting potential.
    — Staff reports, Charlotte Observer, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of perimeter
Adverb
  • But centering a nearly dead Cathy Ames (Florence Pugh) is Kazan’s entire intention with this project, and snagging us with the image of her bloody body crawling toward the Trasks’ farmhouse is a tip of the hand toward where East of Eden is going.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Michael Poore is a nearly 40-year veteran of public education and the former superintendent of the Little Rock and Bentonville school districts.
    — Michael Poore Special to the Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of nearly
Noun
  • The Pakistani Information Ministry rejected a claim by Afghanistan's Defense Ministry that Afghanistan had destroyed a Pakistani post near the southern Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, opposite the Pakistani city of Chaman.
    — MUNIR AHMED, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026
  • She was denied asylum under a Biden-era border policy that restricted eligibility for many migrants who crossed the southern border outside official pathways.
    — Mick Krever, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of border

Browse Nearby Words

borderlands
borderline
borderlines
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Borderline.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/borderline. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All