gray area
noun
: an area or situation in which it is difficult to judge what is right and what is wrong
There are no gray areas in the rules.
a legal gray area
Examples of gray area in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And still others operate in a gray area created by the national trend toward decriminalization, which has reduced risks and increased rewards associated with black-market marijuana.
—
Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 22 Mar. 2024
That leaves countries like Brazil in a kind of do-everything gray area, said Mercedes Bustamante, a professor and ecologist at the University of Brasília, and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, an independent group of scientists.
—Max Bearak, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024
For underage girls, there is less of a legal gray area — but enforcement and paths to recourse have been lackluster, leaving some child deepfake victims disillusioned.
—Kat Tenbarge, NBC News, 1 Mar. 2024
But without school policies explicitly allowing it, the students’ ability to bring naloxone to class falls into a gray area.
—Rae Ellen Bichell, CNN, 29 Feb. 2024
In Maui County, tiny homes fall into a legal gray area, housing advocates said.
—Reis Thebault, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2024
As our Constitution and Supreme Court currently stand, both protections and restrictions sit in a gray area on the federal level.
—The San Diego Union-Tribune Staff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Feb. 2024
The team’s identity crisis is borne of Green’s many suspensions, Andrew Wiggins’ decline and a gray area in which younger players are called on to step up more than expected.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2024
The absence of federal legalization leaves Colorado’s cannabis industry operating in an amorphous gray area, said Ricardo Baca, a longtime legal marijuana proponent and former Denver Post reporter who helped launch The Cannabist website in 2013.
—John Aguilar, Hartford Courant, 4 Jan. 2024
Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 22 Mar. 2024
That leaves countries like Brazil in a kind of do-everything gray area, said Mercedes Bustamante, a professor and ecologist at the University of Brasília, and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, an independent group of scientists.
—Max Bearak, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024
For underage girls, there is less of a legal gray area — but enforcement and paths to recourse have been lackluster, leaving some child deepfake victims disillusioned.
—Kat Tenbarge, NBC News, 1 Mar. 2024
But without school policies explicitly allowing it, the students’ ability to bring naloxone to class falls into a gray area.
—Rae Ellen Bichell, CNN, 29 Feb. 2024
In Maui County, tiny homes fall into a legal gray area, housing advocates said.
—Reis Thebault, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2024
As our Constitution and Supreme Court currently stand, both protections and restrictions sit in a gray area on the federal level.
—The San Diego Union-Tribune Staff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Feb. 2024
The team’s identity crisis is borne of Green’s many suspensions, Andrew Wiggins’ decline and a gray area in which younger players are called on to step up more than expected.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2024
The absence of federal legalization leaves Colorado’s cannabis industry operating in an amorphous gray area, said Ricardo Baca, a longtime legal marijuana proponent and former Denver Post reporter who helped launch The Cannabist website in 2013.
—John Aguilar, Hartford Courant, 4 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gray area.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to gray area
Dictionary Entries Near gray area
Cite this Entry
“Gray area.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gray%20area. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share