IN THE RAW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does in the raw mean? 

• IN THE RAW (adjective)
  The adjective IN THE RAW has 1 sense:

1. (used informally) completely unclothed

  Familiarity information: IN THE RAW used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IN THE RAW (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used informally) completely unclothed

Synonyms:

bare-ass; bare-assed; in the altogether; in the buff; in the raw; naked as a jaybird; peeled; raw; stark naked

Similar:

unclothed (not wearing clothing)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

And so they reminiscenced and drowned their hunger in the raw, sour wine.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I smell the fog that hung about the place; I see the hoar frost, ghostly, through it; I feel my rimy hair fall clammy on my cheek; I look along the dim perspective of the schoolroom, with a sputtering candle here and there to light up the foggy morning, and the breath of the boys wreathing and smoking in the raw cold as they blow upon their fingers, and tap their feet upon the floor.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)