perilously close to

idiom

somewhat formal
: at or to a point where one is in great danger of (something happening)
The company was perilously close to bankruptcy.
She came perilously close to drowning.

Examples of perilously close to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Several brawlers came perilously close to tumbling over the second-deck railing into the lower bowl below. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 May 2025 For example, according to then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the two sides came perilously close to a nuclear exchange during a 2019 crisis after India informed the Americans that Pakistan was preparing to deploy nuclear weapons. Aqil Shah, Foreign Affairs, 23 May 2025 However, with the Heat’s payroll perilously close to the luxury tax and also not far below the limiting first apron of the luxury tax, how this plays out in coming weeks could grow even more complex. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 21 May 2025 And yet a smaller, colder part of me admits that a not-insignificant percentage of the work of novel writing hews perilously close to the territory now occupied by LLMs. Jayson Greene, Time, 17 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for perilously close to

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Cite this Entry

“Perilously close to.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perilously%20close%20to. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.

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