灰はい色いろ

は

い

ろ

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

Refers to the color grey, or metaphorically to something dull, gloomy, or lacking clarity. The reading かいしょく is obsolete.

灰はい色いろの空そらa grey, overcast sky
朝あさから灰はい色いろの空そらが広ひろがっていた。
The sky had been grey and overcast since morning.
灰はい色いろの毎まい日にちa dull, monotonous daily life
受じゅ験けん勉べん強きょうに追おわれる灰はい色いろの毎まい日にちを送おくっていた。
I was living a dull, monotonous life buried in exam study.
灰はい色いろの〈人ひと〉someone suspected of wrongdoing but not proven guilty (a 'gray area' figure)
彼かれはその事じ件けんで灰はい色いろの人じん物ぶつとして捜そう査さされている。
He is being investigated as a 'gray' figure in that case, not yet proven guilty.

グレーN1
灰色 is the native Japanese word for grey and can also mean morally ambiguous, while グレー is the English loanword often used in fashion, design, or when describing something as 'in-between' in a casual tone.
ねずみ色いろ
灰色 is the general, everyday word for grey, whereas 鼠色 is a traditional, more specific term for a darker, muted grey (literally 'mouse color').
グレーゾーン
灰色 literally means the color gray but is often used figuratively (e.g. 灰色高官) for something suspicious or questionable, whereas グレーゾーン specifically denotes an ambiguous zone between two clear categories.
玉たま虫むし色いろ
灰色 (as in 灰色の決着) describes an unresolved, murky 'gray area' outcome, whereas 玉虫色 emphasizes an answer crafted to shift meaning depending on who is looking at it.

薔薇ばら色いろN1
灰色の人生/未来 (a gray, bleak life/future) is the standard figurative opposite of 薔薇色の人生/未来 (a rosy, hopeful one).

Show 5 more

灰色Usage99%
- はいいろ
  Standard kanji spelling; the reading はいいろ is the modern common reading.
- かいしょく
  out-dated reading
ハイイロUsage1%
かいしょく
out-dated reading

Compound of 灰 (はい, 'ash') and 色 (いろ, 'color'), literally 'ash color'. The obsolete reading かいしょく uses the older on'yomi for 灰.