variants
or less commonly grey
1
a
: of the color gray
b
: tending toward gray
blue-gray eyes
c
: dull in color
2
: having the hair gray : hoary
3
: clothed in gray
4
b
: prosaically ordinary : dull, uninteresting
the boring, gray dullness of government—
P. J. O'Rourke
P. J. O'Rourke5
: having an intermediate and often vaguely defined position, condition, or character
an ethically gray area
grayly
adverb
grayness
noun
variants
or less commonly grey
1
: any of a series of neutral colors ranging between black and white
2
: something (such as an animal, garment, cloth, or spot) of a gray color
3
a
: a soldier in the Confederate army during the American Civil War
b
often capitalized
: the Confederate army
variants
or less commonly grey
grayed also greyed; graying also greying; grays also greys
1
: to become gray
2
: age
also
: to contain an increasing percentage of older people
The town's population has grayed over the last two decades.
: to make gray
: the mks unit of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation equal to an energy of one joule per kilogram of irradiated material
—abbreviation Gy
Synonyms
Examples of gray in a Sentence
Adjective
What will you do when you are old and gray?
My friends have all gone gray.
It was a gray winter day.
the gray faces of the people in the crowd
Recent Examples on the WebAllen Farmelo, Robb Report, 18 Apr. 2024
Dorothy’s tornado is summoned with a flurry of pirouetting dancers in billowing gray fabrics.
—Maya Phillips, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024
Witnesses described the suspect vehicle as a light-colored, possibly white or gray pickup truck, which will have damage to the passenger side, including a missing passenger mirror.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2024
Another has a colorful scene of the rural Charles Town area severed by a smoky black and gray landscape of steel towers and a coal plant.
—Antonio Olivo, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024
The sun shirt comes in whimsical colors like salmon, ice blue, white, and gray and is sized XS to XXL.
—Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 2024
This neuroinflammation has been associated with changes in cerebral gray and white matter tissue.
—Lauryn Higgins, Health, 16 Apr. 2024
Synthetic content is flooding search engines and social media like a kind of gray goo, all in hopes of making a quick buck.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024
The next stage is a fuzzy gray mold that can release millions of spores and spread the disease to other as-yet uninfected buds and blooms.
—Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024
Eric Zeman, PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
The dining room is done in muted grays with several seating areas.
—Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
The tall, slender 38-year-old wore a white jail jumpsuit, his gray hair thinning and his goatee streaked with gray.
—Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
The first in rose gold features a dial combining carbon gray and light champagne.
—Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
Cooper’s cop with a guilty conscience allows the actor to tap into his tender side, giving a soulful performance in moral shades of gray.
—Eric Farwell, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2024
People clutch precious items — a book, a magazine, a photo, a gray felt cowboy hat — waiting for their two-minute turn with the Queen of Graceland, who sits at a table behind a poster-sized portrait of herself in younger days.
—Michael Callahan, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Mar. 2024
But in the meantime, the black block-type, orange piping and road grays against the backdrop of the Green Monster remains a sight to behold.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 25 Mar. 2024
Sherwin-Williams' Snowbound, SW 7004 The presence of gray undertones means this wintery shade plays especially well with other cool colors, like grays and blues.
—Grace Haynes, Southern Living, 13 Mar. 2024
Isabella Ubaldi, Health, 20 Mar. 2024
While great whites are typically white on their stomachs and gray on their backs, this shark was a surprising shade of white — its skin covered in a strange, milky substance.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 30 Jan. 2024
Morning sunshine gives way to gray skies in the midday and afternoon.
—Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
Among the doctors who came to see Johnson was Todd Ivey, a tall man with graying hair.
—Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2024
Other factors, aside from the natural aging process, can trigger hair to gray too.
—Cathryne Keller, SELF, 15 Mar. 2024
Young couples and graying ones, families with kids, students, city commissioners and Jayhawks fans.
—Anne Brockhoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Jan. 2024
Social media video emerged of the tornado looming eerily against graying skies at dusk.
—Scott Dance, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024
Every nation will grapple with the social and economic factors that accompany a graying population.
—Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 5 Mar. 2024
Adjective
And some wrists were Tony Bennet-hairy, such that by comparison my left wrist appeared lightly dusted with a longish tricolored coat of brown, strawberry and gray fleece.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 18 Apr. 2024
Dorothy’s tornado is summoned with a flurry of pirouetting dancers in billowing gray fabrics.
—Maya Phillips, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024
Witnesses described the suspect vehicle as a light-colored, possibly white or gray pickup truck, which will have damage to the passenger side, including a missing passenger mirror.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2024
Another has a colorful scene of the rural Charles Town area severed by a smoky black and gray landscape of steel towers and a coal plant.
—Antonio Olivo, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024
The sun shirt comes in whimsical colors like salmon, ice blue, white, and gray and is sized XS to XXL.
—Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 2024
This neuroinflammation has been associated with changes in cerebral gray and white matter tissue.
—Lauryn Higgins, Health, 16 Apr. 2024
Synthetic content is flooding search engines and social media like a kind of gray goo, all in hopes of making a quick buck.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024
The next stage is a fuzzy gray mold that can release millions of spores and spread the disease to other as-yet uninfected buds and blooms.
—Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024
Noun
The outer layers are a dark gray while the inner section is a lighter gray.
—Eric Zeman, PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
The dining room is done in muted grays with several seating areas.
—Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
The tall, slender 38-year-old wore a white jail jumpsuit, his gray hair thinning and his goatee streaked with gray.
—Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
The first in rose gold features a dial combining carbon gray and light champagne.
—Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
Cooper’s cop with a guilty conscience allows the actor to tap into his tender side, giving a soulful performance in moral shades of gray.
—Eric Farwell, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2024
People clutch precious items — a book, a magazine, a photo, a gray felt cowboy hat — waiting for their two-minute turn with the Queen of Graceland, who sits at a table behind a poster-sized portrait of herself in younger days.
—Michael Callahan, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Mar. 2024
But in the meantime, the black block-type, orange piping and road grays against the backdrop of the Green Monster remains a sight to behold.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 25 Mar. 2024
Sherwin-Williams' Snowbound, SW 7004 The presence of gray undertones means this wintery shade plays especially well with other cool colors, like grays and blues.
—Grace Haynes, Southern Living, 13 Mar. 2024
Verb
According to Ayurveda, this means that the Kansa is doing its job, and the graying effect can be washed off easily with a warm washcloth.
—Isabella Ubaldi, Health, 20 Mar. 2024
While great whites are typically white on their stomachs and gray on their backs, this shark was a surprising shade of white — its skin covered in a strange, milky substance.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 30 Jan. 2024
Morning sunshine gives way to gray skies in the midday and afternoon.
—Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
Among the doctors who came to see Johnson was Todd Ivey, a tall man with graying hair.
—Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2024
Other factors, aside from the natural aging process, can trigger hair to gray too.
—Cathryne Keller, SELF, 15 Mar. 2024
Young couples and graying ones, families with kids, students, city commissioners and Jayhawks fans.
—Anne Brockhoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Jan. 2024
Social media video emerged of the tornado looming eerily against graying skies at dusk.
—Scott Dance, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024
Every nation will grapple with the social and economic factors that accompany a graying population.
—Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 5 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gray.' 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
Dictionary Entries Near gray
Cite this Entry
“Gray.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gray. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
gray
1 of 2 noun
variants
or chiefly British grey
: any of a series of neutral colors ranging between black and white
gray
adjective
or chiefly British grey
gray
2 of 2 noun
: the mks unit of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation equal to an energy of one joule per kilogram of irradiated material
—abbreviation Gy
Biographical Definition
Gray
2 of 2biographical name (2)
Thomas 1716–1771 English poet
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