in the raw

English

Etymology

Ellipsis of "in the raw state."

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

in the raw (not comparable)

1. Unprocessed, rough
   • 2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 37:

     I guaranteed him that in both these synagogues hakafot would provide him with music "in the raw."

2. (idiomatic) In the natural state; in real life.
   • 1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 12, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:

     He was seeing life in the raw, and it was a different life from what he had known within the printed books of his library.

   • 1921, Rafael Sabatini, Scaramouche,

     He read there in the raw what is perhaps the most amazing page in the history of human development, and in the end he was forced to the conclusion that all his early preconceptions had been at fault, and that it was such exalted, passionate enthusiasts as Vilmorin who had been right.

   • 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 6, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:

     In spite of defending indecency, Jacob doubted whether he liked it in the raw.

3. (idiomatic, euphemistic) Naked.
   • 2001, Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians, page 39:

     He stood gawking at Cyndee, who was standing in the raw on the shore of the pond his daddy had put in.

   • 2010, Mark J. Okrant, A Last Resort, page 90:

     As he waited for Pamela to return, Richard was standing in the raw before his full-length mirror.

   • 2011, J. L. O'Faolain, The Thirteenth Child, page 88:

     James brought his hand away and immediately jumped at the sight of Cole standing in the raw, calmly passing the bag back to the inspector. “I thought you said it was safe to look,” he accused.

Synonyms

• (naked): in the altogether

See also

• in the pink

Anagrams

• tarwhine, wear thin