gray hat

noun

A morally ambiguous character; an antihero.

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Meanings

noungray hat (plural gray hats)

plural gray hats · alternative grayhat · alternative grey hat · alternative greyhat

  1. idiomaticfictionA morally ambiguous character; an antihero.
  2. slangcomputer securitycomputingA hybrid between a white hat and a black hat hacker, who hacks for no personal gain, and does not have malicious intentions, but does sometimes commit crimes.

Origin

From being grey (“gray”), a mix between black and white, morally grey/gray. From white hat + black hat. From cowboy country and western fiction, where good guys wear white Stetson hats with light attire, and bad guys wear black ones with black attire. From chivalric fiction, with white knights and black knights. From the association of the color white with good and black with evil.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Polish gray hat
  • gray hatmorally ambiguous hacker
Cite this entry
APA

gray hat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gray%20hat

MLA

“gray hat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gray%20hat. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gray hat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gray%20hat.

Source: gray hat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.