starkers

[ stahr-kerz ]

adjective

, British Informal.

1. wearing no clothes; naked.

Word History and Origins

Origin of starkers¹

First recorded in 1905–10; stark-(naked) + -ers

Example Sentences

Putin looks — how to put this nicely? — completely bonkers, or what the British call “starkers,” short for stark raving mad.

From Washington Post

She turned up, stripped and pottered out starkers to the room full of pensioners, only to be informed that this was not a life-drawing session and politely requested to put her clothes back on.

From The Guardian

“I’ll go starkers before I put that on,” said Ron stubbornly.

From Literature

The men and women admiring the koi pond and photographing the rose collection and making polite chit-chat with neighbors on the next picnic blanket over — all of them, starkers as the day they were born.

From Salon

You begin swiping through her sunshiny mementos — palm tree, cabana, palm tree, palm tree — when, suddenly, blammo: there’s your friend in her starkers.

From New York Times