Idioms

gray area

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gray area

A concept or topic that is not clearly defined or that exists somewhere between two extreme positions. There's a lot of gray area regarding whether the use of the new surveillance technology is lawful. Love isn't always as clear as black and white, you know. You have to accept that there are many gray areas in relationships. A gray area in the decades-old law is being used by the company to justify its expansion without the approval of the city council.
See also: area, gray
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

(a) gray area

Fig. an area of a subject or question that is difficult to put into a particular category because it is not clearly defined and may have connections or associations with more than one category. The responsibility for social studies in the college is a gray area. Several departments are involved. Publicity is a gray area in that firm. It is shared between the marketing and design divisions.
See also: area, gray
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

gray area

Indeterminate territory, undefined position, neither here nor there. For example, There's a large gray area between what is legal and what is not. This term, which uses gray in the sense of "neither black nor white" (or halfway between the two), dates only from the mid-1900s.
See also: area, gray
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

a grey area

COMMON If you call something a grey area, you mean that it is unclear. Note: `Grey' is usually spelled `gray' in American English. There are many grey areas in the law affecting stolen animals. Tabloid papers paint all sportsmen as heroes or villains. There is no grey area in between.
See also: area, grey
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a grey area

an ill-defined situation or field not readily conforming to a category or to an existing set of rules.
In the 1960s, grey areas in British planning vocabulary referred to places that were not in as desperate a state as slums but which were in decline and in need of rebuilding.
2001 Rough Guide to Travel Health In theory, it should be a cinch to diagnose appendicitis, but in practice it's much more of a grey area.
See also: area, grey
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

a ˌgrey ˈarea

an area of a subject or situation that is not clear or does not fit into a particular group and is therefore difficult to define or deal with: The question of police evidence in cases like this is a grey area. We will need to consult our lawyers about it.
See also: area, grey
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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References in periodicals archive
Moving the point I in the square, they will notice that the sum of the grey areas and the sum of the white areas do not change and are always identical to each other.
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I am a big fan of the DRS but this leaves a little bit of a grey area which can come back and bite the umpires," he added.
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"But if this grey area is a factor in the development of malignant ailments, the money that will be spent on treating the cancers would be much more than what will be needed to move the pylons," said Adamou.
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Somewhere in the grey area where pub rock meets new wave, the land inhabited by Dire Straits, Squeeze, Joe Jackson and Nick Lowe (and, perhaps, presided over by the king himself Elvis Costello) lives a man called Graham Parker.
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Insp David Johnston of Central Scotland Police admitted: "The problem is electric scooters are a bit of a grey area in the Highway Code."
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She said: "I appreciate it may appear to be a grey area, but we feel the decision was right."
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