grayscale

American  

[grey-skeyl] / ˈgreɪˌskeɪl /

Or gray scale

noun

1. a scale of achromatic colors having several, usually ten, equal gradations ranging from white to black, used in television and photography.

---

Etymology

Origin of grayscale

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

For Brezina, it was turning on her phone’s grayscale setting.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026

In low light levels, only rods are able to absorb light, giving us grayscale vision.

From Salon • Nov. 16, 2024

However, the Prakash-proxy model trained only on color images did not show good generalization to grayscale or hue-manipulated images.

From Science Daily • May 23, 2024

You’ll definitely want to approach the Ladder as if it’s a playable movie, as a 1950s mail room, for instance, is presented in black-and-white, playing tricks with color and grayscale.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2024

They’re in grayscale and look grainy and distorted—they must be very old.

From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth