grayness

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

gray¹ or grey /greɪ/   adj., gray•er, gray•est or grey•er, grey•est, n. 
adj. 

1. of a color between white and black;
   having a neutral hue.
2. dull and dreary:
   gray skies.
3. having gray hair:
   was prematurely gray.
4. not clearly one thing or the other:
   [before a noun] the gray area between realism and abstraction.

n. 

5. [uncountable] a color intermediate between white and black.
6. gray material or clothing:
   [uncountable] to dress in gray.
   [countable] dressed in grays and blues.
7. [countable] a horse of a gray color.

gray•ish, adj. 
gray•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

gray¹  (grā), adj., -er, -est, n., v. 
adj. 

1. of a color between white and black;
   having a neutral hue.
2. dark, dismal, or gloomy:
   gray skies.
3. dull, dreary, or monotonous.
4. having gray hair;
   gray-headed.
5. pertaining to old age;
   mature.
6. Informal Terms pertaining to, involving, or composed of older persons:
   gray households.
7. old or ancient.
8. indeterminate and intermediate in character:
   The tax audit concentrated on deductions in the gray area between purely personal and purely business expenses.

n. 

9. any achromatic color;
   any color with zero chroma, intermediate between white and black.
10. something of this color.
11. gray material or clothing:
    to dress in gray.
12. an unbleached and undyed condition.
13. American History (often cap.) a member of the Confederate army in the American Civil War or the army itself. Cf. blue (def. 5).
14. a horse of a gray color.
15. a horse that appears white but is not an albino.

v.t., v.i. 

16. to make or become gray.

Also, grey. 

• bef. 900; Middle English; Old English grǣg; cognate with German grau

gray′ly, adv. 
gray′ness, n. 

gray²  (grā), n. [Physics.]

1. Physics the SI unit of absorbed dose, equal to the amount of ionizing radiation absorbed when the energy imparted to matter is 1 J/kg. Abbr.: Gy Cf. rad.

• named in honor of Louis Harold Gray (1905–65), English radiobiologist 1975

Gray  (grā), n. 

A•sa  (ā′sə), 1810–88, U.S. botanist.
1. Biographical Thomas, 1716–71, English poet.