Meanings
alternative gray matter
- idiomaticuncountableBrains; a person's ability to think.
How many phone numbers are stored in your grey matter?
2001 September 28, Thomas K. Grose, “Connect the Dots”, in Time2 more examples
"I'd better be putting my grey matter into that algebra instead of wasting it plotting for a party dress that I certainly can't get."
1904, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Penelope's Party Waist”, in Short Stories: 1904"Inspector Pepys!" gasped Bernard Megger, swallowing between the words, "I shall remember you!" "You will be wasting grey matter!" replied the man.
1914, Sax Rohmer, chapter 10, in The Sins of Severac Bablon - uncountableLiteral brains as a general substance.
He fell from the 5th floor. There is grey matter on the path behind his head. I'm afraid he's dead.
- uncountableanatomyA collection of cell bodies and (usually) dendritic connections, in contrast to white matter.
Synonyms & antonyms
noungreyish nervous tissue containing cell bodies as well as fibers; forms the cerebral cortex consisting of unmyelinated neurons
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Catalan substància grisa
- substància grisacollection of cell bodies
Chinese Mandarin 灰質 /灰质
- 灰質 /灰质 (huīzhì)collection of cell bodies
Dutch grijze stof
- grijze stofcollection of cell bodies
Finnish aivot, harmaa aine
- aivotperson's ability to think
- harmaa ainecollection of cell bodies
French matière grise, matière grise
- matière griseperson's ability to think
- matière grisecollection of cell bodies
German graue Substanz
- graue Substanzcollection of cell bodies
Greek φαιά ουσία, φαιά ουσία
- φαιά ουσία (faiá ousía)person's ability to think
- φαιά ουσία (faiá ousía)collection of cell bodies
Hungarian szürkeállomány
- szürkeállománycollection of cell bodies
Indonesian bahan kelabu
- bahan kelabucollection of cell bodies
Italian materia grigia, sostanza grigia
- materia grigiaperson's ability to think
- sostanza grigiacollection of cell bodies
- materia grigiacollection of cell bodies
Japanese 灰白質
- 灰白質 (kaihakushitsu)collection of cell bodies
Korean 회백질
- 회백질 (hoebaekjil)collection of cell bodies
Malay jirim kelabu
- jirim kelabucollection of cell bodies
Polish szare komórki, istota szara
- szare komórkiperson's ability to think
- istota szaracollection of cell bodies
- substancja szaracollection of cell bodies
Portuguese matéria cinzenta, substância cinzenta
- matéria cinzentacollection of cell bodies
- substância cinzentacollection of cell bodies
Romanian materie cenușie
- materie cenușiecollection of cell bodies
Russian се́рое вещество́
- се́рое вещество́ (séroje veščestvó)collection of cell bodies
Spanish sustancia gris, materia gris
- sustancia griscollection of cell bodies
- materia griscollection of cell bodies
Swedish små grå, de små grå
- små gråcollection of cell bodies
- de små gråcollection of cell bodies
Vietnamese chất xám, chất xám
- chất xámperson's ability to think
- chất xámcollection of cell bodies
Cite this entry
grey matter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grey%20matter
“grey matter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grey%20matter. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grey matter,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grey%20matter.
Source: grey matter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.