See grey area on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Because grey is a blend of black and white.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grey areas",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "gray area",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "grey area (plural grey areas)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "bright line"
},
{
"word": "black and white"
},
{
"word": "night and day"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "86 14",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "95 5",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "98 2",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "97 3",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "97 3",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Danish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "92 8",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "92 8",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "92 8",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with German translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "95 5",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "90 10",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Korean translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "87 13",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "90 10",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "97 3",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "88 12",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "95 5",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "93 7",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "81 19",
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Colors",
"orig": "en:Colors",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "96 4",
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Greys",
"orig": "en:Greys",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "97 3",
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Idioms involving colors",
"orig": "en:Idioms involving colors",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"coordinate_terms": [
{
"word": "fine line"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
15,
24
]
],
"text": "It exists in a grey area between legal and illegal.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories, where the border between the two is fuzzy or ill-defined."
],
"id": "en-grey_area-en-noun-75BTQpe5",
"links": [
[
"area",
"area"
],
[
"intermediate",
"intermediate"
],
[
"mutual",
"mutual"
],
[
"exclusive",
"exclusive"
],
[
"state",
"state"
],
[
"categories",
"category"
],
[
"border",
"border"
],
[
"fuzzy",
"fuzzy"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories, where the border between the two is fuzzy or ill-defined."
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"word": "grey hat"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"word": "greyline"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"word": "grey literature"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"word": "grey market"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"word": "fall between two stools"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"word": "twilight zone"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "huīsèdìdài",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "灰色地帶 /灰色地带"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"lang_code": "da",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "gråt område"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"lang_code": "da",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "gråzone"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "harmaa alue"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "zone grise"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"raw_tags": [
"in legal terminology"
],
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"especially",
"feminine"
],
"word": "Grauzone"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "gurē zōn",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "グレーゾーン"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"alt": "はいいろのりょういき",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "haīronoryōiki",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "灰色の領域"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"roman": "aemaehan yeong'yeok",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "애매한 영역"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"lang_code": "nb",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "gråsone"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"lang_code": "nn",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "gråsone"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "szara strefa"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "séraja zóna",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "се́рая зо́на"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"lang_code": "sv",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "gråzon"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
10,
19
]
],
"ref": "2007 May, Men's Health, volume 22, number 4, page 94:",
"text": "Fame is a grey area[.]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A topic that is not clearly one thing or the other, that is open to interpretation."
],
"id": "en-grey_area-en-noun--9Po5KBN",
"links": [
[
"topic",
"topic"
],
[
"clearly",
"clearly"
],
[
"interpretation",
"interpretation"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) A topic that is not clearly one thing or the other, that is open to interpretation."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "penumbra"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-grey area.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/81/En-au-grey_area.ogg/En-au-grey_area.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/En-au-grey_area.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
}
],
"word": "grey area"
}
{
"categories": [
"British English forms",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Danish translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Korean translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations",
"en:Colors",
"en:Greys",
"en:Idioms involving colors"
],
"etymology_text": "Because grey is a blend of black and white.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grey areas",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "gray area",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "grey area (plural grey areas)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "grey hat"
},
{
"word": "greyline"
},
{
"word": "grey literature"
},
{
"word": "grey market"
},
{
"word": "fall between two stools"
},
{
"word": "twilight zone"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "bright line"
},
{
"word": "black and white"
},
{
"word": "night and day"
}
],
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"coordinate_terms": [
{
"word": "fine line"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
15,
24
]
],
"text": "It exists in a grey area between legal and illegal.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories, where the border between the two is fuzzy or ill-defined."
],
"links": [
[
"area",
"area"
],
[
"intermediate",
"intermediate"
],
[
"mutual",
"mutual"
],
[
"exclusive",
"exclusive"
],
[
"state",
"state"
],
[
"categories",
"category"
],
[
"border",
"border"
],
[
"fuzzy",
"fuzzy"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories, where the border between the two is fuzzy or ill-defined."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
10,
19
]
],
"ref": "2007 May, Men's Health, volume 22, number 4, page 94:",
"text": "Fame is a grey area[.]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A topic that is not clearly one thing or the other, that is open to interpretation."
],
"links": [
[
"topic",
"topic"
],
[
"clearly",
"clearly"
],
[
"interpretation",
"interpretation"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) A topic that is not clearly one thing or the other, that is open to interpretation."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "penumbra"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-grey area.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/81/En-au-grey_area.ogg/En-au-grey_area.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/En-au-grey_area.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "huīsèdìdài",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "灰色地帶 /灰色地带"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"lang_code": "da",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "gråt område"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"lang_code": "da",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "gråzone"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "harmaa alue"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "zone grise"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"raw_tags": [
"in legal terminology"
],
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"especially",
"feminine"
],
"word": "Grauzone"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "gurē zōn",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "グレーゾーン"
},
{
"alt": "はいいろのりょういき",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "haīronoryōiki",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "灰色の領域"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"roman": "aemaehan yeong'yeok",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"word": "애매한 영역"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"lang_code": "nb",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "gråsone"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"lang_code": "nn",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "gråsone"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "szara strefa"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "séraja zóna",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "се́рая зо́на"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"lang_code": "sv",
"sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "gråzon"
}
],
"word": "grey area"
}
Download raw JSONL data for grey area meaning in All languages combined (5.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.