gray hat

See also: grayhat and gray-hat

English

Alternative forms

• grayhat, gray-hat, grey hat, grey-hat, greyhat

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

gray hat (plural gray hats)

1. (idiomatic, fiction) A morally ambiguous character; an antihero.
2. (computing, computer security, slang) A 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.

Related terms

• black hat
• white hat

 

Anagrams

• Gayhart