borderline

[ bawr-der-lahyn ]

/ ˈbɔr dərˌlaɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR borderline ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

on or near a border or boundary.

uncertain; indeterminate; debatable: not an alcoholic, but a borderline case.

not quite meeting accepted, expected, or average standards.

approaching bad taste or obscenity: He made several borderline remarks that offended them.

noun

a person suffering from borderline personality.

Nearby words

border, the, bordereau, borderer, borderland, borderless, borderline, borderline personality, borderline personality disorder, borders, borders region, bordet

Origin of borderline

First recorded in 1865–70; border + line¹

SYNONYMS FOR borderline

3 marginal, problematic, uncertain, doubtful.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR borderline ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for borderline

Vasquez, who has borderline ID, was exonerated in 1989, four years after his conviction.
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities|Elizabeth Picciuto|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Family and friends describe her as highly dedicated to her job, if not borderline workaholic.
The Mystery Death Of A Female Firefighter|Christopher Moraff|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The pair carried on their “work” relationship as borderline transients.
The Navy ‘Hero’ Who Pimped an HIV-Positive Teen|M.L. Nestel|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their relationships with each other range from conciliatory to borderline antagonistic.
Welcome to Assadville, USA|Christopher Moraff|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Their borderline baseline distaste for a person they did not know had become a sport, and the off season was finally over.
Do We Still Hate Anne Hathaway?|Kevin Fallon|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was so poignant a sensation that it crossed the borderline into pain.
The Ideal|Stanley Grauman Weinbaum
Going from Stirling to Crieff we crossed the borderline of the Highlands.
The Heather-Moon|C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson
The borderline, if any, between art and writing is becoming fuzzier by the hour.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin
We're upon the borderline of our acceptances, and we're amorphous in the uncertainties and mergings of our outline.
The Book of the Damned|Charles Fort
If there were a borderline along which Lassans were meeting humans in any kind of conflict it was most likely to lie southward.
The Onslaught from Rigel|Fletcher Pratt

British Dictionary definitions for borderline

borderline

/ (ˈbɔːdəˌlaɪn) /

noun

a border; dividing line; line of demarcation

an indeterminate position between two conditions or qualitiesthe borderline between friendship and love

adjective

on the edge of one category and verging on anothera borderline failure in the exam

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012