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View synonyms for raw

raw

[ raw ]

adjective

, raw·er, raw·est.
  1. uncooked, as articles of food:

    a raw carrot.

  2. not having undergone processes of preparing, dressing, finishing, refining, or manufacture:

    raw cotton.

    Synonyms: unprepared, makeshift, rough

  3. unnaturally or painfully exposed, as flesh, by removal of the skin or natural integument.
  4. painfully open, as a sore or wound.
  5. crude in quality or character; not tempered or refined by art or taste:

    raw humor.

  6. ignorant, inexperienced, or untrained:

    a raw recruit.

    Synonyms: undisciplined, unpracticed, unskilled, green

  7. brutally or grossly frank:

    a raw portrayal of human passions.

  8. brutally harsh or unfair:

    a raw deal; receiving raw treatment from his friends.

  9. disagreeably damp and chilly, as the weather or air:

    a raw, foggy day at the beach.

    Synonyms: wet, cold

  10. not diluted, as alcoholic spirits:

    raw whiskey.

    Synonyms: neat, straight

  11. unprocessed or unevaluated:

    raw data.



noun

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

raw

/ rɔː /

adjective

  1. (of food) not cooked

    raw onion

  2. prenominal in an unfinished, natural, or unrefined state; not treated by manufacturing or other processes

    raw materials for making steel

    raw brick

  3. (of an edge of material) unhemmed; liable to fray
  4. (of the skin, a wound, etc) having the surface exposed or abraded, esp painfully
  5. ignorant, inexperienced, or immature

    a raw recruit

  6. prenominal not selected or modified

    raw statistics

  7. frank or realistic

    a raw picture of the breakdown of a marriage

  8. (of spirits) undiluted
  9. coarse, vulgar, or obscene
  10. recently done; fresh

    raw paintwork

  11. (of the weather) harshly cold and damp
  12. informal.
    unfair; unjust (esp in the phrase a raw deal )
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. the raw informal.
    a sensitive point

    his criticism touched me on the raw

  2. in the raw
    1. without clothes; naked
    2. in a natural or unmodified state

      life in the raw

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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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
  1. 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.
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Example Sentences

Raw eel seemed to be popular during and after the Middle Ages.

The script would be used as more than just raw material, but would need to be fudged.

The raw materials— tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold—were dubbed “conflict minerals.”

But there was a lot of raw violence in the humor of the time.

But the raw believability of, say, Magnum photography has been done for.

It makes out of the savage raw material which is our basal mental stuff, a citizen.

It had come on to rain, and the raw dampness mingled itself with the dusky uproar of the Strand.

The evening was cold and raw and so dark that it was almost impossible to distinguish people on the badly lighted little platform.

This problem was solved by a native coming along driving a raw-boned horse before a rickety wagon.

The comparison of the cost of production, therefore, with the value of the raw material, shows a very large margin of profit.

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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