gray area

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gray area

Researchers have scant records to draw upon when trying to understand homeschooling, a legal gray area for much of the 20th century.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Michael Jackson’s estate could’ve existed in this gray area forevermore, letting his memory hover somewhere between genius and joker.

From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026

Regular bikes are already banned from anything designated as a “trail,” according to a city ordinance, but a spokesperson for Lee said e-bikes were a gray area that his proposal aims to address.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

I’ve been hosting on Airbnb for a few years, and I’ve recently found myself in a bit of a gray area, morally speaking.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026

The tarp closest to the cave covered a gray area, a place where the worlds met.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston