How to Use borderline in a Sentence

borderline

adjective
  • In borderline cases like these, the best course of action is difficult to determine.
  • As a borderline diabetic, Lara is able to control her blood sugar levels solely through diet.
  • Some pass over a sure Famer to give that 10th vote to a borderline guy.
    Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 22 Jan. 2020
  • The Tigers need him to be a borderline impact player, at the least.
    Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press, 4 Feb. 2020
  • The 3-2 pitch, a high fastball, was borderline but called a ball, forcing in the lead run.
    La Velle E. Neal Iii, Star Tribune, 30 Sep. 2020
  • Run-DMC was a shock wave, a hip-hop group that crossed over to the mainstream with a borderline punk sound.
    Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2022
  • So, Cameroon couldn’t believe it when VAR jumped in again with a borderline call to take away the goal.
    Andrew Joseph, For The Win, 23 June 2019
  • Jeff Kent hasn’t cracked 20% of the vote despite six years on the ballot and is borderline at best.
    Jon Tayler, SI.com, 19 July 2019
  • Meanwhile, xFIP pegs the Cubs’ bullpen as a borderline top-10 unit, not an elite top-5.
    Skip Snow, USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire, 16 Sep. 2019
  • Boston has a borderline star in Jaylen Brown and four first-round picks.
    Dave Hyde, sun-sentinel.com, 28 June 2021
  • On paper, with the kitchen in mind, the whole concept is borderline ridiculous.
    Alex Delany, Bon Appétit, 7 Nov. 2019
  • That’s something a borderline PSU, or one that’s been driven hard, might not be up to, Asus said.
    Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, 2 Sep. 2020
  • Viola is not the first to protest the software’s borderline calls.
    Jacob Bogage, Twin Cities, 16 July 2019
  • Viola is not the first to protest the software's borderline calls.
    Jacob Bogage, courant.com, 16 July 2019
  • But too many balls got past him, too many borderline pitches were called balls.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 June 2019
  • Trump sometimes tries to reduce his tax bills in borderline ways that may or may not be kosher.
    Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 2 Oct. 2020
  • And foods that cooked over longer periods of time were borderline dry.
    Hartford Courant, courant.com, 11 July 2018
  • The Sox were left filling holes in their rotation with borderline big leaguers not up to the task.
    Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Feb. 2021
  • Yet the result is its own one-of-a-kind thing: lush, textured, inscrutable, borderline eerie.
    Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 18 July 2019
  • That kind of usage is borderline elite at the tight end position.
    Frank Stampfl, The Denver Post, 3 Dec. 2019
  • In their place, the Rams sent out their two rookies along with tight end Kendall Blanton, a borderline third-stringer when the season began.
    Barry Wilner, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Feb. 2022
  • Carson Kelly had been rung up on a borderline pitch, and Lovullo began yelling from the dugout.
    Nick Piecoro, azcentral, 30 June 2019
  • Chychrun has been borderline elite on both sides of the puck, and Goligoski has had a resurgent season by all accounts.
    Richard Morin, azcentral, 1 Dec. 2019
  • But borderline pitch calls and a fifth inning that began with a walk and a balk ruined Skaggs’ chances at a clean line.
    Maria Torres, latimes.com, 29 June 2019
  • There, the actors aboard brooms appeared crisper and borderline 3-D. Or maybe that was the butterbeer talking.
    Dewayne Bevil, OrlandoSentinel.com, 13 June 2018
  • Reggie Miller is borderline, and Lisa Leslie, looking regal in a white wig, has even more presence than Shaq does.
    Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 27 June 2018
  • Tom Murphy struck out on four pitches and Dylan Moore was called out looking on a borderline 3-2 pitch.
    Tim Booth, ajc, 2 Oct. 2021
  • Waiting for a fresh, wet manicure to set is borderline painful.
    Taylore Glynn, Marie Claire, 10 Feb. 2020
  • All of this unfolds with prose that is borderline stilted and with major and minor plot turns that make little sense.
    Richard Lipez, Dallas News, 26 Aug. 2019
  • Left-hander Cody Bradford started for Frisco on Thursday and was borderline dominant, spinning six shutout innings with nine strikeouts and no walks.
    Dallas News, 22 Sep. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'borderline.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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