naked

Adjective

naked (comparative more naked, superlative most naked)

1. Bare, not covered by clothing.
   • He was as naked as the day he was born.
   • Christ commeth not bare or naked, but clothed and accompanied with all his mercies.1579, William Wilkinson, A confutation of certaine articles deliuered vnto the Familye of Loue
2. (colloquial, obsolete) Lacking some clothing; clothed only in underwear.
   • For no body would staye to give them intelligence, the countrey people running evry wher out of ther waye, and some of them flying out of ther bedds nacked in their shirts, who runne to the neerest rockes on the sea syde; so formidable was ther very name.1680, James Gordon, History of Scots Affairs
3. (figuratively) Unadorned, without decoration or circumlocution; put bluntly.
   • This is the naked truth.
   • The naked facts lay there on the table, enclosed within the files.

   Synonyms:

   unvarnished

4. Involving naked people.
   • So here I went the first time into a naked bed, only my drawers on; and did sleep pretty well: but still both sleeping and waking had a fear of fire in my heart, that I took little rest.1666, Samuel Pepys, Diary
   • The satirical historian has not blushed to describe the naked scenes which Theodora was not ashamed to exhibit in the theatre.1788, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
5. (obsolete) Unarmed.
   • You an’t even with me yet, ſays ſhe; I ſcorn as much to take up a Sword againſt a Naked Man; as you ought to have ſcorn’d, if you had been a Gentleman, to give the Lie to a Woman.1727, Daniel Defoe, An essay on the history and reality of apparitions
6. Lacking some sort of covering, protection, or accoutrement which might otherwise be expected.
   • The tendrils of the naked flame stretched into the skies.
   • Lighting was unimaginative for the standard stock with naked tungsten filament bulbs and metal reflectors. However, all compartments had individual reading lights above the seats with attractive glass shades.1979 August, Graham Burtenshaw, Michael S. Welch, “O.V.S. Bulleid's SR loco-hauled coaches - 1”, in Railway World, page 398
   1. Unaided; not using an optical device such as telescope or binoculars.
      • If all celestial bodies visible to the naked eye are thus mapped on the celestial sphere, it becomes apparent that the vast majority of them remain in fixed patterns with respect to each other: They form recognizable constellations that, in turn, remain unchangeably distributed.2001, Asger Aaboe, Episodes From the Early History of Astronomy
   2. Having no fur, feathers or scales on the skin; like a human.
      • We naked apes must be ever watchful for thorns and poison ivy as we hike the trail.
   3. Unsheathed, bare.
      • There was a knock at the door.
        “Enter,” said the princess.
        An officer appeared with his naked sword in his hand.1898, Amédée Achard, “XIX: What There Is Behind A Wall”, in William M. Hale, transl., The Sword of a Gascon, page 169
   4. Without a condom.
      • I entered her naked and came in her too.
   5. Sold by someone who does not, at that time, own the underlying asset to cover the contract.
      • a naked put; a naked call
   6. (figuratively) Uncomfortable or vulnerable, as if missing something important.
      • I feel naked without my mobile phone.
   7. Lacking some ingredient, component, or additive usually present.
      • a naked burrito (i.e. one without a tortilla)
      • a naked burger (without a bun)
7. (literary) Lacking resources or means, poor.
   • I knowe my self moost naked in al artes, / My comune ne vulgare eke moost interupte, / And I conversaunte and born in the partes / Where my natyfe langage is moost corrupt, / And with most sundry tonges myxt and rupte.1480, anonymous author, Cura Sapientiæ; or, The Court of Sapience, William Caxton
   • I am a poor Man, naked, / Yet ſomething for Remembrance; four a piece, Gentlemen, / And ſo my Body where you pleaſe.c. 1625, John Fletcher, The Humorous Lieutenant
8. Lacking (something) or devoid (of something) [with of].
   • Freewill is made naked of all maner merite.1581, Walter Haddon, John Foxe, translated by James Bell, Against Ierome Osorius Byshopp of Siluane in Portingall and Against His Slaunderous Inuectiues: An Aunswere Apologeticall: for the Necessary...
   • Their eyes were opened to ſee their nakedneſſe: naked they were of diuine protection and fauor, naked of Angelicall guard and cuſtodie, naked of Humane puritie and holineſſe, naked of dutifull subiection from the rebelling Creatures;1619, Samuel Purchas, Purchas his Pilgrim: Microcosmus, or the Historie of Man, relating the Wonders of his Generation, Vanities in his Degeneration, Necessity of His Regeneration
9. (obsolete) Blank, clean, empty.
   • For in the first it finds the mind naked and unprepossessed with any former notions, and so easily and insensibly gains upon the assent, grows up with it, and incorporates into it.c. 1660, Robert South, Sermon on John vii. 17.
10. (rocks, or plants) Barren, having no foliage, unvegetated.
11. Not hidden within an event horizon and thus observable from other parts of spacetime.