raw material

noun

: crude or processed material that can be converted by manufacture, processing, or combination into a new and useful product

Wheat … is raw material for the flour mill …

—C. A. Koepke

broadly : something with a potential for improvement, development, or elaboration

… perplexities are often the raw material of discoveries.

—Agnes M. Clerke

Synonyms of raw material

• potential
• material

Examples of raw material in a Sentence

His experiences during the war were the raw material for the story.

Recent Examples on the Web

The hydrogenobodies therefore help keep the dark cave of the rumen oxygen-free enough for methanogens to thrive, in addition to providing them with a raw material. — Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 27 July 2026

And in investing, time is often the raw material from which alpha is created. — Gary Drenik, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026

Instead of redesigning quantum processors, the DOE laboratories focused on improving the raw material from which those processors are made. — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 26 July 2026

While there are never guarantees, Trafford, on paper at least, has the raw materials to be their No 1 for the next decade. — Beren Cross, New York Times, 24 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for raw material

• arterial
• bacterial
• ethereal
• funereal
• imperial
• sidereal
• venereal
• antibacterial
• biomaterial
• mycobacterial
• cereal
• virial

Kids Definition

raw material

noun

: something from which a useful or desirable product can be manufactured or produced

wheat and rye are the raw materials for a flour mill

collect raw material for writing a story