in the raw

Prepositional phrase

1. Unprocessed, rough.
   • I guaranteed him that in both these synagogues hakafot would provide him with music "in the raw."2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 37

   Synonyms:

   in the rough

2. (idiomatic) In the natural state; in real life.
   • He was seeing life in the raw, and it was a different life from what he had known within the printed books of his library.1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 12, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC
   • He read there in the raw what is perhaps the most amazing page in the history of human development, and in the end he was forced to the conclusion that all his early preconceptions had been at fault, and that it was such exalted, passionate enthusiasts as Vilmorin who had been right.1921, Rafael Sabatini, Scaramouche
3. (euphemistic, idiomatic) Naked.
   • Bond looked grimly at the pile of parcels which contained his new identity, stripped off his pyjamas for the last time ('We mostly sleep in the raw in America, Mr Bond') and gave himself a sizzling cold shower.1954, Ian Fleming, “A Visiting-Card”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 25
   • He stood gawking at Cyndee, who was standing in the raw on the shore of the pond his daddy had put in.2001, Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians, page 39

   Synonyms:

   in the altogether, in the buff, in the nude, in the pink