Meanings
- A bluish shade of grey, similar to cadet blue.
Moreover, according to uniform historian Fred Adolphus, Confederate cadet grey may never have been as blue or as irregular as the shade reenactors have tried to recapture, based on a comparison of reproduction cloth with museum-conserved uniforms.
2016 April 13, Romie Stott, “The Historical Reenactor Accuracy Wars”, in Atlas Obscura2 more examples
The company marched ahead of the Valley Forge Military Academy and College Regimental Band. Wrapped in cadet grey jackets, snare drummers played in harmony with bass saxophonists. Not even the breeze could make the red tassles sway atop their black and gold hats as they marched up Fifth Avenue.
2017 March 17, “Thousands Flood Fifth Avenue for NYC's St. Patrick's Day Parade”, in NBC New YorkAnd Lottie Moss looked every inch the party girl as she headed for a night out with her actor pal Daniel Mickelson in West Hollywood on Sunday. The 21-year-old showed off her incredible figure in a cadet grey bodycon dress as she strutted to Delilah restaurant.
2019 April 22, Connie Rusk, “Lottie Moss displays her incredible figure in a skintight grey bodycon dress as she heads on night out with pal Daniel Mickelson in LA”, in The Daily Mail
Origin
From the colour of military uniform; first used as a colour term around 1912.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cadet grey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cadet%20grey
“cadet grey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cadet%20grey. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cadet grey,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cadet%20grey.
Source: cadet grey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.