Idiom
grey area
Meaning
An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories, where the border between the two is fuzzy or ill-defined.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“This rule is a grey area.”
“Whether freelancers qualify for benefits is a grey area that lawyers still debate.”
“The law struggles to keep pace with technology, leaving most questions of online privacy in a troubling grey area.”
Examples
simple
“This rule is a grey area.”
contextual
“Whether freelancers qualify for benefits is a grey area that lawyers still debate.”
complex
“The law struggles to keep pace with technology, leaving most questions of online privacy in a troubling grey area.”
Origin
The term derives from the nature of the colour grey as a blend of black and white. It functions as a metaphor for an imperfect nature, which is understood as a blend of perfection and perfidy.
Key words
Related idioms
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