Raw

/ɹɔ/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang

adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: An unprocessed sugar; a batch of such.
  • Grammar: raw is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: crude, a novice at, a stranger to, abusive.
  • Useful contrasts: contaminated, impure, manufactured.
  • Usage evidence: You shouldn't have eaten the fish raw.

How to use "raw"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "raw" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "raw" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "raw" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "raw" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "raw" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "crude" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "raw", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An unprocessed sugar; a batch of such.

    "With the recent advance in London yellow crystals, however, the disproportion of the relative value of these two kinds has been considerably reduced, and a better demand for crystallized raws should consequently occur."

  2. 2
    Abbreviation of rules as written: the actual rules appearing in the rulebook, as opposed to house rules, or to rules that might have been intended (in the event of a mistake in the rulebook). abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable
  3. 3
    informal terms for nakedness wordnet
  4. 4
    A galled place; an inveterate sore.
  5. 5
    Initialism of read after write, a kind of data hazard. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    A point about which a person is particularly sensitive. broadly, figuratively

    "In a moment Tom was angry. The women saw that Bill had touched him upon the raw, and they went out of the room to prepare a meal."

  2. 7
    A recording or rip of a show that has not been fansubbed. slang
  3. 8
    A scan that has not been cleaned (purged of blemishes arising from the scanning process) and has not been scanlated. slang
Verb
  1. 1
    To sexually penetrate without a condom. slang, transitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    (of food) Not cooked.

    "There's nothing but raw fish in the freezer."

  2. 2
    (of food) Not cooked.; Subsisting on, or pertaining to, a diet of raw food.

    "I was 100% raw from 2014 until early 2018."

  3. 3
    Not treated or processed; in a natural state, unrefined, unprocessed. (of materials, products, etc.)

    "Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were extracted using Likens-Nickerson apparatus with diethyl ether as the extraction solvent. The extracts were then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, concentrated using a rotary evaporator followed by flushing using nitrogen until the volume was about 0.5 ml."

  4. 4
    Having had the skin removed or abraded; chafed, tender; exposed, lacerated.

    "‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared.[…]’"

  5. 5
    New or inexperienced.

    "a raw beginner"

Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    Crude in quality; rough, uneven, unsophisticated.

    "a raw voice"

  2. 7
    Uncorrected, without analysis.

    "What makes Mexico worrying is not just the raw numbers but the power of the cartels over society."

  3. 8
    Unpleasantly cold or damp. (of weather)

    "a raw wind"

  4. 9
    Unmasked, undisguised, strongly expressed. (of an emotion, personality, etc.)

    "raw emotion"

  5. 10
    Candid in a representation of unpleasant facts, conditions, etc.

    "a raw description of the American political arena"

  6. 11
    Unrefined, crude, or insensitive, especially with reference to sexual matters. (of language)
  7. 12
    Without a condom. slang
  8. 13
    Not covered; bare; bald. obsolete

    "with scull all raw"

Adjective
  1. 1
    not processed or subjected to analysis wordnet
  2. 2
    (used informally) completely unclothed wordnet
  3. 3
    not treated with heat to prepare it for eating wordnet
  4. 4
    lacking training or experience wordnet
  5. 5
    brutally unfair or harsh wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    used of wood and furniture wordnet
  2. 7
    unpleasantly cold and damp wordnet
  3. 8
    having the surface exposed and painful wordnet
  4. 9
    devoid of elaboration or diminution or concealment; bare and pure wordnet
  5. 10
    hurting wordnet
  6. 11
    untempered and unrefined wordnet
  7. 12
    (used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes wordnet
  8. 13
    not processed or refined wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Without a condom. slang

    "We did it raw."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Initialism of Research and Analysis Wing. India, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, initialism

    "RAW is a well-known acronym in India for an organization whose detailed character and activities are not well-known. RAW stands for the Research and Analysis Wing either of India's prime minister's department or the cabinet's secretariat, which was established in 1968 to handle internal intelligence."

  2. 2
    A surname from Old English.

Synonyms

All synonyms
crudea novice ata stranger toabusiveadolescentalgetic

Example

"You shouldn't have eaten the fish raw."

Common questions

What does "raw" mean?

An unprocessed sugar; a batch of such.

What is a synonym for "raw"?

Common synonyms include: crude, a novice at, a stranger to, abusive, adolescent, algetic.

How do you use "raw" in a sentence?

You shouldn't have eaten the fish raw.

How do you pronounce "raw"?

Pronounced /ɹɔ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English rawe, raw, rau, from Old English hrēaw (“raw, uncooked”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrau, from Proto-Germanic *hrawaz, *hrēwaz (“raw”), from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“raw meat, fresh blood”). Cognate with Scots raw (“raw”), Dutch rauw (“raw”), German roh (“raw”), Swedish rå (“raw”), Icelandic hrár (“raw”), Latin crūdus (“raw, bloody, uncooked”), Irish cró (“blood”), Lithuanian kraujas (“blood”), Russian кровь (krovʹ, “blood”). Related also to Old English hrēow, hrēoh (“rough, fierce, wild, angry, disturbed, troubled, sad, stormy, tempestuous”). More at ree.

Etymology 2

Topographic surname for someone who lived at a hedgerow or at a row of houses, from Old English rāw (“row”).

More for "raw"

Synonyms

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