grey area
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- gray area (US)
Etymology
[edit]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.
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]grey area (plural grey areas)
- (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.
- (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[.]
Synonyms
[edit]- (an area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories): penumbra
Antonyms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories
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