borderline

noun

(countable) A boundary or accepted division; a border.

(countable) A person who has borderline personality disorder.

(uncountable) Ellipsis of borderline personality disorder. [(psychiatry) Behavior that borders both neurosis and psychosis.]

verb

(transitive) To border, or border on; to be physically close or conceptually akin to.

adjective

Nearly; not clearly on one side or the other of a border or boundary, ambiguous.

Of questionable taste or acceptability; approaching bad taste.

Exhibiting borderline personality disorder.

adverb

Nearly; not entirely but nevertheless to a great extent.

Roots

bordborder- · Frankish · edge, boundary linealine- · Latin · line, string

Synonyms for borderline

marginaladj boundaryn thresholdn liminal frontiern

Synonyms & related words for borderline

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of borderline — including marginal, boundary, threshold, liminal, frontier. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to borderline

Explore words related to borderline — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include border, delimitation, verging, limen, verges, psychotically, psychopathological, schizoid. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for borderline

Common synonyms for borderline include marginal, boundary, threshold, liminal, frontier — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does borderline come from?

The word borderline breaks down into 2 roots of Frankish and Latin origin: border, from Frankish bord (“edge, boundary”); and line, from Latin linea (“line, string”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.