Synonyms

on thin ice

Idioms

In a precarious or risky position, as in After failing the midterm, he was on thin ice with his math teacher. This metaphor is often rounded out as skate on thin ice, as in He knew he was skating on thin ice when he took his rent money with him to the racetrack. This idiom, which alludes to the danger that treading on thin ice will cause it to break, was first used figuratively by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay Prudence (1841): “In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had been on thin ice within the administration for some time.

From Slate • Mar. 7, 2026

If buying wipes out all savings, they’ll be skating on thin ice.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 15, 2025

"Manchester United will probably go above Spurs. A difficult moment for them and the manager is skating on thin ice."

From BBC • Jan. 15, 2025

It’s possible that the appellate judges themselves had an inkling that they were on thin ice in their ruling.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2023

The winter I was six, I saw a yellow dog on thin ice on the Alliance.

From "Orbiting Jupiter" by Gary D. Schmidt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023