huīsèshōurù

灰色收入

Word · Noun

off-the-books income; semi-legal extra income

Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma

Meanings

1 sense · 3 examples
1.

noun

off-the-books income; semi-legal income outside of regular salary

neutral

This term often has a dual meaning. It can neutrally refer to legitimate supplementary income (e.g., from freelance work, royalties). However, it more commonly implies income with questionable legality or transparency, which is neither completely legal ('white income') nor clearly illegal ('black income'). Its connotation depends heavily on context.

Tā他
de的
huī灰
sè色
shōu收
rù入
zhǔ主
yào要
lái来
zì自
zhōu周
mò末
de的
jiān兼
zhí职
jiā家
jiāo教
 。

His off-the-books income mainly comes from weekend tutoring.

Zhè这
jiā家
gōng公
sī司
de的
guǎn管
lǐ理
céng层
cún存
zài在
dà大
liàng量
de的
huī灰
sè色
shōu收
rù入
 ,
zhèng正
zài在
jiē接
shòu受
diào调
chá查
 。

The management of this company has a large amount of questionable gray income and is under investigation.

Show 1 more example
Gǎo稿
fèi费
hé和
zhuān专
lì利
zhuǎn转
ràng让
fèi费
dōu都
shǔ属
yú于
hé合
fǎ法
de的
huī灰
sè色
shōu收
rù入
 。

Royalties and patent licensing fees are both forms of legitimate gray income.