Meanings
plural greynesses · alternative grayness
- countableuncountableThe quality or state of being grey.
The sun had gone behind the clouds. As the ship slid out on its way a stray beam pierced the greyness.
1910 May 11, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Conclusion”, in A Gentleman of Leisure, New York, N.Y.: The Overlook Press, published 2003, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 2691 more example
The sight of them [the Grampians] as we crossed the viaduct over the North Esk I am not likely to forget. After a night of snow, they hung wraith-like across the sky, exquisitely beautiful in the greyness of winter dawn.
1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 8
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishgraynes
- Englishgreyness
From Middle English graynes, greynes; equivalent to grey + -ness.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish gråhed
- gråhedquality or state of being grey
Finnish harmaus
- harmausquality or state of being grey
French griseur
- griseurquality or state of being grey
Hungarian szürkeség
- szürkeségquality or state of being grey
Russian се́рость
- се́рость (sérostʹ)quality or state of being grey
Swedish gråhet, grånad
- gråhetquality or state of being grey
- grånadquality or state of being grey
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with greyness
All rhymes →Cite this entry
greyness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greyness
“greyness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greyness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “greyness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greyness.
Source: greyness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.