greyish

greyish — adjective

1. having a colour that is close to grey but not completely grey — for example, a g

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

having a colour that is close to grey but not completely grey — for example, a greyish sky before a storm, or hair that is beginning to turn white with age.

Example

The old wooden shed had turned a greyish colour after years of rain and sun.

greyish + colour (describing objects)

Leila chose a greyish sweater because she wanted something softer than plain black.

greyish + clothing item

Common collocations
  • greyish sky
  • greyish hair
  • greyish colour
  • greyish tone
  • greyish skin
Synonyms
  • ashen

    emphasises a pale, grey-white colour, often describing skin or face

  • silvery

    suggests a light grey with a shiny or metallic quality

  • dull grey

    stresses lack of brightness rather than closeness to grey

  • pale grey

    focuses on the light, washed-out quality rather than the greyness itself

Antonyms
  • vibrant

    describes colours that are bright and strong, the opposite of muted greyish tones

  • colourful

    refers to a wide range of bright hues, unlike the single, washed-out quality of greyish

Usage Note

Used mainly in British English; the American spelling is grayish. The -ish suffix indicates 'somewhat' or 'approximately', so greyish always means not fully grey.

Common Mistakes

Her hair is greyish white.
Her hair is a greyish white.
greyish is an adjective that needs to modify a noun, not another adjective directly.
I bought a greyish colour paint.
I bought a greyish paint.
greyish already describes colour; adding 'colour' is redundant.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe colours close to grey, but each has a different focus. Ashen suggests a grey-white colour like ashes, most often used for someone's face when they are ill, shocked, or very pale. Silvery has a brighter, metallic shine — think of moonlight on water or polished metal. Dull grey emphasises the lack of brightness or life in the colour, like a cloudy winter sky. Pale grey centres on lightness — it is grey mixed with a lot of white. Greyish is the most general and neutral of the group; it simply means 'somewhat grey' without any extra connotation of shine, paleness, or illness. For everyday description, greyish is usually the safest choice: 'a greyish jacket' sounds natural, while 'an ashen jacket' would sound odd unless you meant the colour of ash.

ashensilvery ↗dull greypale grey

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Greyish is formed from the colour word grey (from Old English grǣġ) plus the suffix -ish, which comes from Old English -isc and means 'somewhat' or 'approximately'. So greyish has literally meant 'somewhat grey' since the Middle English period.