in the raw
1
5.4
- idiom
:
en crudo
- The artist presented his latest work in the raw, without any alterations or edits.
Examples
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I have like sugar in the raw and Himalayan pink salt.
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And so I heat up the milk, I mix in the raw cacao.
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She prefers to eat her vegetables in the raw, straight from the garden.
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Viewing the footage in the raw gives a more authentic perspective of the event.
Synonyms
353
1.0
In a natural state not cooked, treated, or finished
43
4.6
Not yet processed or made into useful products
10
6.7
Pure and not mixed with anything else
5
3.4
Not changed from its natural form
3
4.3
Not cleaned or changed and kept in a natural state
3
4.4
In its natural raw state without processing
Antonyms
How Processed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'in a natural, unprocessed or unedited state' is directly built from the constituents: 'in' (locative) + 'the' (definite article) + 'raw' (unprocessed/uncooked/uncensored). This compositional pattern (adjective used as a nominal state, e.g. 'raw' = 'raw state') is common cross-linguistically and in English collocations like 'raw footage', so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
In the raw comes from raw meaning 'uncooked' or 'unprocessed', like food straight from nature. So when something is shown 'in the raw' it is in its simple, natural form, not edited or changed.