Meaning & use
a fine line
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Meaning
nounsingularfigurative
A very small difference separating two qualities or actions, so that it is easy to cross from one to the other.
Grammar: Usually appears as there is a fine line between X and Y.
Patterns
- a fine line between something and something
- walk a fine line
There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance.
A good joke can walk a fine line between funny and rude.
Teachers tread a fine line between helping and doing the work for students.
Common combinations
- a fine line between
- There's a fine line between brave and foolish.
- walk a fine line
- Journalists walk a fine line when reporting on private lives.
- tread a fine line
- The manager treads a fine line between firm and fair.
- cross a fine line
- The ad crossed a fine line into bad taste.
Synonyms and how they differ
- thin line
- Thin line is interchangeable in most uses and equally common.
- narrow margin
- Narrow margin refers to a small gap in numbers or results, not a boundary between qualities.
- gray area
- Gray area describes an unclear situation, whereas a fine line stresses how close two things are.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: a fine line or a fine?
a fine line vs a fine
A fine is a penalty paid for breaking a rule, which has nothing to do with this idiom.
Practice
Complete: 'There is a fine line ___ determination and stubbornness.'
Choose one answer.
The idiom uses between to join the two qualities. The other prepositions do not form this set phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a fine line”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.