border on

verb

bordered on; bordering on; borders on

1

: to have a border on (something) : to lie on a boundary of (something)

The area my ancestors come from borders on the Atacama Desert.

2

: to be very like (something) : to come very close to being (something)

The play's dialog borders on the ridiculous.

an enthusiasm bordering on fanaticism

Examples of border on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Long before the cancer, my father, Rajeev, who was 63, avoided conventional medicine with an intensity that bordered on phobia. — Trisha Thadani Kirsten Potter Tanya Pérez Devin Murphy, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

As a filmed version of John Steinbeck‘s classic novel, however, Kazan’s East of Eden borders on dreadful. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 1 Oct. 2026

Forecast models show the remnants of weakening Hurricane Polo moving toward the New Mexico-Texas border on Tuesday, before surging northeast into portions of the Southern and Central Plains. — Kansas City Star, 28 Sep. 2026

Remm responded by making a decision that, for a nightlife maven, bordered on existential. — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for border on

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon
• epsilon