border on
phr. v..phr. v.. to be very close to a certain quality or feeling. You use this when something is almost a specific way, usually something extreme like being crazy or rude.
phr. v.. to come close to being something; to approximate a state or quality. It is an inseparable transitive phrasal verb often used to describe behaviors that approach a negative or extreme limit.
His behavior borders on being rude.
The comedian's jokes were funny, but some of them bordered on being offensive to the audience.
The architect's latest design is certainly ambitious, though some critics argue that its structural complexity borders on the impossible.
- Particles
- on
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- border + on + object
usually followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form) representing an extreme quality.
point out that while it can describe physical geography, in figurative use it almost always points toward a negative or excessive trait.
His comments border to insults.His comments border on insults.the verb 'border' requires the preposition 'on' when describing being close to a state or quality.