on thin ice

Idioms and Phrases

In a precarious or risky position, as in After failing the midterm, he was on thin ice with his math teacher . This metaphor is often rounded out as skate on thin ice , as in He knew he was skating on thin ice when he took his rent money with him to the racetrack . This idiom, which alludes to the danger that treading on thin ice will cause it to break, was first used figuratively by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay Prudence (1841): “In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.”

Example Sentences

Cannon is on “thin ice,” legal experts Norm Eisen, Danya Perry and Josh Colb wrote in a CNN op-ed.

From Salon

Wenjie is already on thin ice after taking the fall for a heterodox journalist who passed her a copy of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” and at risk of being physically forced to incriminate other innocent scientists if she stays in prison.

From New York Times

Obita had been on thin ice for much of the match, and a second booking seemed inevitable as he charged carelessly around the pitch, finally coming for a block on Rabbi Matondo.

From BBC

If the Kraken miss the playoffs, I think Hakstol starts next season on thin ice.

From Seattle Times

The claims put forward by scholars like Mr Jamai "stand on thin ice", he says.

From BBC

Related Words

• ambiguous
• ambivalent
• dubious
• erratic
• hazy
• hesitant
• insecure
• precarious
• questionable
• risky
• unclear
• undecided
• undetermined
• unpredictable
• unreliable
• unresolved
• unsettled
• unsure
• vague