View synonyms for raw

raw

[ raw ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

, raw·er, raw·est.

uncooked, as articles of food:
a raw carrot.
not having undergone processes of preparing, dressing, finishing, refining, or manufacture:
raw cotton.
Synonyms: unprepared, makeshift, rough
unnaturally or painfully exposed, as flesh, by removal of the skin or natural integument.
painfully open, as a sore or wound.
crude in quality or character; not tempered or refined by art or taste:
raw humor.
ignorant, inexperienced, or untrained:
a raw recruit.
Synonyms: undisciplined, unpracticed, unskilled, green
brutally or grossly frank:
a raw portrayal of human passions.
brutally harsh or unfair:
a raw deal; receiving raw treatment from his friends.
disagreeably damp and chilly, as the weather or air:
a raw, foggy day at the beach.
Synonyms: wet, cold
not diluted, as alcoholic spirits:
raw whiskey.
Synonyms: neat, straight
unprocessed or unevaluated:
raw data.

noun

a sore or irritated place, as on the flesh.
unrefined sugar, oil, etc.

raw

/ rɔː /

adjective

(of food) not cooked
raw onion
prenominal in an unfinished, natural, or unrefined state; not treated by manufacturing or other processes
raw materials for making steel
raw brick
(of an edge of material) unhemmed; liable to fray
(of the skin, a wound, etc) having the surface exposed or abraded, esp painfully
ignorant, inexperienced, or immature
a raw recruit
prenominal not selected or modified
raw statistics
frank or realistic
a raw picture of the breakdown of a marriage
(of spirits) undiluted
coarse, vulgar, or obscene
recently done; fresh
raw paintwork
(of the weather) harshly cold and damp
informal.
unfair; unjust (esp in the phrase a raw deal )

noun

the raw informal.
a sensitive point
his criticism touched me on the raw
in the raw
1. without clothes; naked
2. in a natural or unmodified state
  life in the raw

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Derived Forms

ˈrawly, adverb
ˈrawness, noun
ˈrawish, adjective

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Other Words From

rawish adjective
rawish·ness noun
rawly adverb
rawness noun
half-raw adjective
semi·raw adjective
semi·rawly adverb
semi·rawness noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of raw¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English hrēaw, hrǣw; cognate with Dutch rauw, German roh; akin to Latin crūdus “raw” ( crude ), cruor “blood,” Greek kréas “raw flesh” ( creatine )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of raw¹

Old English hreaw ; related to Old High German hrao , Old Norse hrār raw, Latin cruor thick blood, Greek kreas meat

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

in the raw,
1. in the natural, uncultivated, or unrefined state:
  nature in the raw.
2. Informal. in the nude; naked:
  sunbathing in the raw.

More idioms and phrases containing raw

In addition to the idiom beginning with raw , also see in the altogether (raw) .

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Synonym Study

Raw, crude, rude refer to something not in a finished or highly refined state. Raw applies particularly to material not yet changed by a process, by manufacture, or by preparation for consumption: raw cotton; raw leather. Crude refers to that which still needs refining: crude petroleum. Rude refers to what is still in a condition of rough simplicity or in a makeshift or roughly made form: rude agricultural implements; the rude bridge that arched the flood.

Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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