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
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
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
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Recent Examples of borderline
Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2025
San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams is a borderline generational player and right tackle Colton McKivitz has been terrific this year.
—Diamond Vences, Charlotte Observer, 18 Nov. 2025
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
Jennifer Hussein, InStyle, 29 Jan. 2026
The friends poke fun at each other, go on cute little riffs, and generally try to keep things positive, which makes room for Jimmy’s carefree, borderline cartoonish side to surface, especially in the premiere.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for borderline
Adjective
Although the Texans and Steelers have had inconsistent offenses this season, playing that well on defense and putting up the stats the Bills have over that stretch has been borderline dominant.
—Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2025
San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams is a borderline generational player and right tackle Colton McKivitz has been terrific this year.
—Diamond Vences, Charlotte Observer, 18 Nov. 2025
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
The borderline lob offers a perfect middle ground.
—Jennifer Hussein, InStyle, 29 Jan. 2026
The friends poke fun at each other, go on cute little riffs, and generally try to keep things positive, which makes room for Jimmy’s carefree, borderline cartoonish side to surface, especially in the premiere.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for borderline
Recent Examples of Synonyms for borderline
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
Adverb
-
The majority of what remained was auctioned off by the French state in a wave of republican sentiment almost a hundred years later.—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Last year was almost certainly the first year of the 21st century that preventable child mortality went up rather than down.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Arm's chip designs power most of the world's smartphones and are increasingly used in AI data centers and edge computing devices.—
Dylan Butts,
CNBC,
5 Feb. 2026
-
On Thursday afternoon, OpenAI released a new cutting-edge coding model that the company said assisted in its own creation.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Adler’s version, as elegant and lyrical as Fisher’s, enumerates ways to use every last scrap, bone, and core—and introduced her as a writer who made art out of the marginal.—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Learn your tax brackets A key reason to study your tax return, Smith said, is to become familiar with marginal tax rates.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
9 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
The talented Czech goalies are practically salivating at the opportunity.—
Jesse Granger,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Assuming Crawford or another starter candidate fills the long-relief role, the rest of the bullpen looks practically set.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
On the walls and propped up against the room’s perimeter are frames and presentation boards.—
April Quevedo,
jsonline.com,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The building’s original Portland stone facade was retained, while the interior has been updated with contemporary codes, with concrete flooring, aluminum and glass vitrines, and stainless steel perimeter wrapping the space.—
Tianwei Zhang,
Footwear News,
9 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
As of Thursday, that system still had nearly 500 outages.—
ALEX ROZIER Mississippi Today,
Arkansas Online,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Guthrie lives on nearly an acre, in a brown-brick, ranch-style house with an attached garage, a short gravel driveway, and desert landscaping.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The Dera was founded in 1948 by the mystic Mastana Balochistani in the Haryana city of Sirsa, near the northern state’s borders with Punjab, India’s breadbasket, and the desert state of Rajasthan.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
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Shovgi Huseynov, a researcher at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in New York, was released from an immigration detention center nearly a month after making a wrong turn near the Canadian border.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Borderline.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/borderline. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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