grey area

English

Alternative forms

• gray area (US)

Noun

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.

   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, in Men's Health, volume 22, number 4, page 94:

     Fame is a grey area[.]

Synonyms

• (an area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories): penumbra

Translations

area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories

• German: Grauzone (de) f (especially in legal terminology)
• Japanese: グレーゾーン (ja) (gurē zōn)

• Chinese (simplified): 灰色地帯
• Chinese (traditional): 灰色地帶

See also

• black and white
• fall between two stools