grey area - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

• Beginning
• 1 English
  • 1.1 Alternative forms
  • 1.2 Etymology
  • 1.3 Pronunciation
  • 1.4 Noun
    * 1.4.1 Synonyms
    * 1.4.2 Antonyms
    * 1.4.4 Translations
  • 1.5 See also

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

• gray area (US)

Because grey is a blend of black and white, and thus a metaphor for how an imperfect nature is a blend of perfection and perfidy.

grey area (plural grey areas)

1. (idiomatic) An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories, where the border between the two is fuzzy or ill-defined.
   It exists in a grey area between legal and illegal.
2. (idiomatic) A topic that is not clearly one thing or the other, that is open to interpretation.
   • 2007 May, Men's Health, volume 22, number 4, page 94:
     Fame is a grey area[.]

• (an area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories): penumbra
• bright line
• grey hat, grey literature, greyline, grey market
• black and white
• fall between two stools
• twilight zone

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