Meaning & use
gray
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Of a color between black and white, like ash or rain clouds.
Grammar: Used before or after a noun: a gray sweater, the sky is gray.
Patterns
- gray in color
The sky turned gray before the storm.
He wore a gray suit to the interview.
The old stone building looked gray in the rain.
adjectivecomparable
Having hair that has turned white or silver with age.
Grammar: Often used about a person's hair: gray hair.
Patterns
- gray hair
His beard had gone gray by the time he was fifty.
The gray-haired man waved from the porch.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Dull, gloomy or lacking cheer and interest.
Grammar: Used figuratively for weather, days and moods.
Patterns
- a gray day
It was a gray morning with nothing to look forward to.
Life felt gray after the move.
adjectivebefore a nounfigurative
Not clearly right or wrong, or not clearly covered by rules.
Grammar: Used in the phrase gray area: it is a gray area.
Patterns
- gray area
Using the photo without credit is a gray area.
The law leaves a gray area around drones.
nouncountable or uncountable
The color between black and white.
Grammar: Uncountable for the color in general, countable for shades: many grays.
Patterns
- in gray
- a shade of gray
She painted the walls a soft gray.
The artist used several grays in the painting.
verbintransitive
To become gray, especially of hair going gray with age.
Grammar: No object: his hair grayed.
Patterns
- something grays
His hair grayed early.
The sky grayed as evening came.
Word forms
| comparative | grayer |
|---|---|
| superlative | grayest |
| plural | grays |
| third person singular | grays |
| past tense | grayed |
| -ing form | graying |
Common combinations
- gray hair
- She decided not to dye her gray hair.
- gray area
- The rules leave a gray area.
- gray sky
- A gray sky hung over the harbor.
- gray matter
- The brain's gray matter processes information.
- shade of gray
- The paint came in a dozen shades of gray.
Synonyms and how they differ
- silver
- Silver is a bright metallic gray, while gray is flat and plain.
- ashen
- Ashen means pale gray, especially of a face that has lost color from shock.
- overcast
- Overcast describes a cloudy sky only, but gray can describe anything.
- drab
- Drab means dull and uninteresting, so it describes mood more than color.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: gray or grey? gray or great?
gray vs grey
Grey is the usual British spelling. Gray is more common in American English, and they mean the same.
gray vs great
Great means very good or large, and has a different vowel in its spelling and meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'gray' to mean a situation that is not clearly right or wrong?
Choose one answer.
A gray area is a situation that is unclear, neither clearly allowed nor forbidden. The other sentences use gray for color, aging hair or weather.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gray”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.