grey-white

grey-white — adjective

1. having a colour that is a blend of white and grey; between pure white and pale g

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

having a colour that is a blend of white and grey; between pure white and pale grey in shade.

Example

The old chapel had grey-white walls that had not been painted for years.

attributive position before noun

Élise wore a grey-white scarf that matched the winter sky.

Common collocations
  • grey-white walls
  • grey-white sky
  • grey-white hair
  • grey-white stone
Synonyms
  • off-white

    suggests a warmer, creamier tone than grey-white

  • pale grey

    emphasises grey as the base colour rather than a mix of grey and white

  • silvery

    implies a shiny or metallic quality not present in grey-white

Usage Note

A compound colour adjective formed from 'grey' and 'white'. The spelling 'gray-white' is used in American English. Compound colour adjectives like this one are typically placed before the noun they describe.

Word family

  • grey
    adjectiveA1
  • white
    adjectiveA1
  • greyish-white
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Grey-white, off-white, pale grey, and silvery all describe light, neutral colours, but they differ in tone and connotation. Grey-white sits between grey and white — it is cooler and duller than off-white, which has a warm or creamy undertone (like unbleached linen). Pale grey is simply light grey, with no suggestion of white mixed in; a pale grey wall reads as grey, not as a white-grey blend. Silvery adds a metallic, reflective quality — a silvery dress catches light in a way that a grey-white one does not. For describing unpainted stone, cold winter light, or an ageing animal's coat, grey-white is the most direct and neutral choice.

off-whitepale greysilvery ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

A compound of 'grey' (Old English grǣg) and 'white' (Old English hwīt), combined as a descriptive colour term. The variant 'gray-white' follows the American English spelling of 'gray'.