Word forms: plural grey areasregional note: in AM, use gray area
countable noun
If you refer to something as a grey area, you mean that it is unclear, for example because nobody is sure how to deal with it or who is responsible for it, or it falls between two separate categories of things.
At the moment, the law on compensation is very much a grey area.
...that gray area between blue-collar laborers and white-collar professionals.
grey area in British English
or US gray area
noun
1.
(in Britain) a region in which unemployment is relatively high
2.
an area or part of something existing between two extremes and having mixed characteristics of both
3.
an area, situation, etc, lacking clearly defined characteristics
Examples of 'grey area' in a sentence
grey area
This is less than transparent and relies on a grey area of the law.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But alongside these issues of complacency and negligence there are genuine problems over grey areas in the law.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It's a grey area of the law.
The Sun (2012)
There isn't much grey area here.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
As for the grey areas, much will depend on how genuinely bothered you are by your problem.
The Sun (2009)
Given that it is all about intent, though, the whole thing is bound to be something of a grey area.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
There are no grey areas in the law here, and when in doubt, the courts tend to grant donors full parental rights in cases involving single mothers.
Martin, April The Guide to Lesbian and Gay Parenting (1993)