in the buff
1
9.1
- idiom
- NSFW
:
desnudo
- The comedian made jokes about being in the buff during his stand-up routine.
Examples
-
On hot summer days, he prefers to relax in the buff at home.
-
And here he is in the buff, I guess, skinny dipping in New Jersey with a couple sticks to pretend he's pan.
-
She loves to sunbathe in the buff whenever she goes to the beach.
Synonyms
982
1.0
Not wearing any clothes on the body
89
3.7
Not wearing any clothes
20
8.5
Completely without clothes
7
4.6
Completely without any clothes
4
3.7
Not wearing any clothes
2
9.6
Completely without clothes with the bottom showing
2
9.9
Completely without clothes
2
9.5
Having no clothes on
Not wearing any clothes
A person who has no clothes on
A state of having no clothes on
Completely naked
A person who has no clothes on
Completely without clothes like at birth
Completely without clothes, as when someone is born
Antonyms
How Clothed
- Formal
1
1.0
- NSFW
1
4.6
- NSFW
10
6.5
- NSFW
1
9.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
in + the + buff
The meaning ‘naked’ is not transparently built from the constituents: 'in' and 'the' are grammatical markers and 'buff' does not commonly denote nakedness in its literal senses known to learners. The phrase is an idiomatic lexicalized expression whose meaning is unpredictable from the parts, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would likely not infer the correct sense.
Etymology
One popular story says in the buff comes from buff, the light brown colour of leather and skin, so being 'in the buff' suggested you only had your bare skin showing. That's why the phrase now means 'naked'.