Grey or gray: which is correct?
Correct
grey (UK) / gray (US)
Avoid
gray (in UK English)
Avoid
grey (in US English)
Summary
Correct: grey (UK) / gray (US) — Avoid: gray (in UK English) / grey (in US English). Grey / gray = the colour between black and white; dull, overcast; (of hair) turning white.
Both spellings are correct in their own variety; pick one and use it consistently.
- Part of speech
- adjective / noun
- Source
- Oxford / Merriam-Webster
Why
Oxford: grey is the standard British spelling; Merriam-Webster gives gray as the American standard with grey as a variant. Proper names keep their own spelling (Earl Grey tea, greyhound in both varieties).
Examples
- The sky turned grey (UK) / gray (US) before the storm.
- He wore a grey suit to the interview.
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- Checked against
- Merriam-Webster / Oxford
- Spelling authority
- Merriam-Webster · Oxford English Dictionary / Oxford spelling · SCOWL
- Commonly confused and non-standard forms
- 64
- Dictionary
- Hunspell en_US / en_GB / en_AU / en_CA · Dictionary license: MIT AND BSD (SCOWL combined licence)