RAW

UK: /ˈrɔː/ US: /rɔ/ ,(rô)

Inflections of 'raw' (adj):

rawer

adj comparative

rawest

adj superlative

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

raw /rɔ/   adj., -er, -est, n. 
adj. 

1. uncooked:
   a raw carrot.
2. not processed, finished, treated, or refined:
   [before a noun] raw cotton.
3. Food not pasteurized:
   [before a noun] raw milk.
4. unnaturally or painfully open or exposed:
   raw wounds.
5. vulgar;
   crude:
   raw jokes.
6. inexperienced;
   untrained:
   a raw recruit.
7. brutal:
   [before a noun] a show of raw power.
8. harsh or unfair:
   We got a raw deal when we were fired.
9. cold and wet:
   a raw day.

Idioms

10. Idioms in the raw:
    • Idioms in the natural state:
      nature in the raw.
    • Idioms nude;
      naked:
      sleeping in the raw.

raw•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

raw  (rô), adj., -er, -est, n. 
adj. 

1. uncooked, as articles of food:
   a raw carrot.
2. not having undergone processes of preparing, dressing, finishing, refining, or manufacture:
   raw cotton.
3. unnaturally or painfully exposed, as flesh, by removal of the skin or natural integument.
4. Pathology painfully open, as a sore or wound.
5. crude in quality or character;
   not tempered or refined by art or taste:
   raw humor.
6. ignorant, inexperienced, or untrained:
   a raw recruit.
7. brutally or grossly frank:
   a raw portrayal of human passions.
8. brutally harsh or unfair:
   a raw deal; receiving raw treatment from his friends.
9. disagreeably damp and chilly, as the weather or air:
   a raw, foggy day at the beach.
10. not diluted, as alcoholic spirits:
    raw whiskey.
11. unprocessed or unevaluated:
    raw data.

n. 

12. Pathology a sore or irritated place, as on the flesh.
13. unrefined sugar, oil, etc.
14. in the raw:
    • in the natural, uncultivated, or unrefined state:
      nature in the raw.
    • Informal Terms in the nude;
      naked:
      sunbathing in the raw.

• bef. 1000; Middle English; Old English hrēaw, hrǣw; cognate with Dutch rauw, German roh; akin to Latin crūdus raw (see crude), cruor blood, Greek kréas raw flesh

raw′ish, adj. 
raw′ish•ness, n. 
raw′ly, adv. 
raw′ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 2. unprepared, rough, makeshift.
  Raw, crude, rude refer to something not in a finished or highly refined state.
  Raw applies particularly to material not yet changed by a process, by manufacture, or by preparation for consumption:
  raw cotton; raw leather.
  Crude refers to that which still needs refining:
  crude petroleum.
  Rude refers to what is still in a condition of rough simplicity or in a makeshift or roughly made form:
  rude agricultural implements; the rude bridge that arched the flood.
• 6. undisciplined, green, unskilled, unpracticed.
• 9. cold, wet.
• 10. straight, neat.

Antonyms

• 1. cooked.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

raw / rɔː/ adjective

1. (of food) not cooked
2. (prenominal) in an unfinished, natural, or unrefined state; not treated by manufacturing or other processes: raw materials for making steel, raw brick
3. (of an edge of material) unhemmed; liable to fray
4. (of the skin, a wound, etc) having the surface exposed or abraded, esp painfully
5. ignorant, inexperienced, or immature: a raw recruit
6. (prenominal) not selected or modified: raw statistics
7. frank or realistic: a raw picture of the breakdown of a marriage
8. (of spirits) undiluted
9. coarse, vulgar, or obscene
10. (of the weather) harshly cold and damp
11. unfair; unjust (esp in the phrase a raw deal)

noun

1. the raw ⇒ a sensitive point: his criticism touched me on the raw
2. in the raw ⇒ without clothes; naked
3. in a natural or unmodified state

Etymology: Old English hreaw; related to Old High German hrao, Old Norse hrār raw, Latin cruor thick blood, Greek kreas meat

ˈrawish adjective

ˈrawly adverb

ˈrawness noun