"grey area" meaning in All languages combined

See grey area on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: en-au-grey area.ogg Forms: grey areas [plural]
Etymology: 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. Head templates: {{en-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 or ill-defined. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: gray area [US] Synonyms (an area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories): penumbra Related terms: grey hat, grey literature, greyline, grey market, black and white, fall between two stools, twilight zone Translations (area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories): 灰色地帶 (Chinese Mandarin), 灰色地带 (huīsèdìdài) (Chinese Mandarin), gråt område [neuter] (Danish), gråzone [common-gender] (Danish), harmaa alue (Finnish), zone grise [feminine] (French), Grauzone [especially, feminine] (German), グレーゾーン (gurē zōn) (Japanese), 灰色の領域 (haīronoryōiki) (alt: はいいろのりょういき) (Japanese), gråsone [feminine, masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), gråsone [feminine] (Norwegian Nynorsk), nieokreślony (Polish), dwuznaczny [adjective, masculine] (Polish), obszar niejasności (Polish), се́рая зо́на (séraja zóna) [feminine] (Russian), gråzon [common-gender] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-grey_area-en-noun-75BTQpe5 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, 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 Mandarin translations, Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations, Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 86 14 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 95 5 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 89 11 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 96 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 94 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 95 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 85 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations: 85 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations: 95 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 86 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 95 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 89 11 Disambiguation of 'an area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories': 97 3 Disambiguation of 'area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories': 95 5
  2. (idiomatic) A topic that is not clearly one thing or the other, that is open to interpretation. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-grey_area-en-noun--9Po5KBN

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "bright line"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grey areas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "grey area (plural grey areas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "89 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "96 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "94 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Danish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "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": "91 9",
          "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": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "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": "89 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "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": "grey literature"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "greyline"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "grey market"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "black and white"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "fall between two stools"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "twilight zone"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "sense": "an area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories",
          "word": "penumbra"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "tags": [
            "US"
          ],
          "word": "gray area"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "word": "灰色地帶"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "huīsèdìdài",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "word": "灰色地带"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "gråt område"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "gråzone"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "word": "harmaa alue"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "zone grise"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "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",
          "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",
          "roman": "haīronoryōiki",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "word": "灰色の領域"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "gråsone"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "gråsone"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "word": "nieokreślony"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "adjective",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "dwuznaczny"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "word": "obszar niejasności"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "séraja zóna",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "се́рая зо́на"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "gråzon"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 May, Men's Health, volume 22, number 4, page 94:",
          "text": "Fame is a grey area[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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."
      ],
      "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"
    }
  ],
  "word": "grey area"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "bright line"
    }
  ],
  "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 Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
    "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grey areas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "grey area (plural grey areas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "grey hat"
    },
    {
      "word": "grey literature"
    },
    {
      "word": "greyline"
    },
    {
      "word": "grey market"
    },
    {
      "word": "black and white"
    },
    {
      "word": "fall between two stools"
    },
    {
      "word": "twilight zone"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "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": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 May, Men's Health, volume 22, number 4, page 94:",
          "text": "Fame is a grey area[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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."
      ],
      "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"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "an area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories",
      "word": "penumbra"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "gray area"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "word": "灰色地帶"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "huīsèdìdài",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "word": "灰色地带"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "gråt område"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "gråzone"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "word": "harmaa alue"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "zone grise"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "raw_tags": [
        "in legal terminology"
      ],
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "especially",
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Grauzone"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "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",
      "roman": "haīronoryōiki",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "word": "灰色の領域"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "gråsone"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gråsone"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "word": "nieokreślony"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "adjective",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "dwuznaczny"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "word": "obszar niejasności"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "séraja zóna",
      "sense": "area intermediate between two fuzzily-distinguished categories",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "се́рая зо́на"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "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 (5.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.