bordering on

Verging toward becoming

Bordering on means approaching or nearly reaching a particular state or quality, usually an extreme or undesirable one: His confidence was bordering on arrogance.

The phrase suggests something hasn't quite crossed a threshold but comes close enough to warrant notice: The delay was bordering on ridiculous.

Related

vergingApproaching a boundary
on the vergeAt the edge of
almostShort of completely
close toNearly reaching
adjacentDirectly next to

brink · approaching · abutting · edge · imminent · flirting · adjoining · tantamount · practically · all but · teetering · nearly · threshold · cusp · on the edge of · fringing · neighboring · resembling

Categories

almost therealmost, nearly, close, imminent, impending
almostalmost, nearly, about, approximately, roughly
approximationsabout, approximately, around, roughly, almost

Opposites

proximity to a state

bordering onfar from

At great distance from

nowhere near · nothing like

degree of fulfillment

bordering onfully

To the complete extent

completely · absolutely · squarely · unmistakably · definitively

Family

border, frontier, borders, bordering, bordered, borderline, borderland, borderless, borderlands

Familiarity: Top 100,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G