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

Cases like Monique’s highlight that gray area between passengers behaving badly, your own feelings of safety as a passenger, and official U.S.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

That was a huge burden on our editors, especially since it was still a gray area.

From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026

In the satellite image, the stadium appears as a gray area just below the Alpine region in the lower left portion of the frame.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2026

And there’s very little room for any gray area in the middle — and certainly even fewer people who want to have an intelligent, patient discussion about these polarities.

From Salon • Jan. 16, 2026

Rhonda and Charlotte walked into the gray area, and the sergeant told them to hold their arms straight out at their sides.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston