raw recruit
1
4.0
- noun
- /rɔː rɪˈkruːt/
:
recluta novato
- As a raw recruit in the army, she felt nervous but excited about her training ahead.
- including raw recruits
Examples
-
This calling out of raw recruits for a night mission didn't fill him with confidence, though.
Fiction book (1990) -
The raw recruits at Shiloh were eager for action as the prospect of battle became imminent.
Academic text (1991) -
Dad expressed doubt that such an opportunity could be trusted to a raw recruit, but he would think about it.
Academic text (1999) -
But even getting the right raw recruits is not easy.
Blog text (20) -
So how did these raw recruits come to join the army of the early empire in the first place?
-
I'm glad to see that in our group the enthusiasm nearly always comes from the raw recruits.
Fiction book (1994) -
Now he divides his time between the closest front lines and stints at the rear training the raw recruits with whom he is forced to work.
Blog text (9) -
Even now, with a victory long since won, it's hard to believe that these precision-like columns marching homeward were the awkward, raw recruits of short years ago.
-
The raw recruits filed nervously off the bus that had carried them from New York's Port Authority to the secluded camp somewhere in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Fiction book (2000) -
The drill sergeant quickly learned that each raw recruit needed individual attention to develop their skills.
Synonyms
149
3.6
A person who has recently joined a group or the army
1
7.0
A person who recently joined the armed forces
1
3.8
A person who recently joined the military and is doing basic training
Antonyms
How Experienced
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a newly enlisted person who lacks experience' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'raw' (inexperienced) with 'recruit' (a newly entered person). This adjective + noun composition follows standard English compositional patterns and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Raw recruit comes from the use of raw to mean 'fresh' or not prepared, like raw food, and recruit meaning a new soldier. So a raw recruit is someone who is 'not trained' or 'inexperienced', which is why the phrase means 'lacking experience'.