1
as in chill
an uncomfortable degree of coolness
lit a fire in the hearth to combat the rawness of that blustery March morning
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in roughness
the quality or state of lacking refinement or good taste
to many listeners the music's rawness adds to its authenticitiy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rawness
Its level of rawness sends her home, and Duyen looks a little bit devastated, a little bit furious when Kristen announces her name.
—
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 May 2026
Individuals born with Pluto in Scorpio embody emotional rawness, psychological depth and an innate psychic awareness in its purest form.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 7 May 2026
Yet that rawness is exactly why the landscape is teeming with sea lions, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies.
—Carla Vianna, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Apr. 2026
There’s a kind of imperfection and emotional rawness, but also these moments of incredible refinement, ugliness, and exquisiteness.
—Lilyanna D'amato, ARTnews.com, 26 Apr. 2026
Hathaway hurls herself into that punishing sequence with violent physical force and emotional rawness.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Apr. 2026
Without revealing specific plot points, Hall’s work in the latter half of the season stands out for its rawness and emotional clarity.
—Scott Shilstone, Deadline, 9 Apr. 2026
For me, navigating the dual role of big sister and eldest daughter, that rawness feels like an open wound.
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Glamour, 2 Apr. 2026
That rawness is exactly what draws people back to it — the clip predates the entire visual language of modern online video.
—Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2026
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 May 2026
Individuals born with Pluto in Scorpio embody emotional rawness, psychological depth and an innate psychic awareness in its purest form.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 7 May 2026
Yet that rawness is exactly why the landscape is teeming with sea lions, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies.
—Carla Vianna, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Apr. 2026
There’s a kind of imperfection and emotional rawness, but also these moments of incredible refinement, ugliness, and exquisiteness.
—Lilyanna D'amato, ARTnews.com, 26 Apr. 2026
Hathaway hurls herself into that punishing sequence with violent physical force and emotional rawness.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Apr. 2026
Without revealing specific plot points, Hall’s work in the latter half of the season stands out for its rawness and emotional clarity.
—Scott Shilstone, Deadline, 9 Apr. 2026
For me, navigating the dual role of big sister and eldest daughter, that rawness feels like an open wound.
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Glamour, 2 Apr. 2026
That rawness is exactly what draws people back to it — the clip predates the entire visual language of modern online video.
—Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rawness
Noun
-
Trade drab colors with 44 percent off floral prints, and bulky hoodies for something a little more lightweight to beat those nightly chills and airplane cabin temperatures—this one by Faherty is 25 percent off for a limited time.—
Julia Morlino,
Travel + Leisure,
29 May 2026
-
Specializing in creative lattes like brown suga baby (brown sugar, toffee nut, coconut, white chocolate, espresso, steamed milk) and lavender and chill (lavender, vanilla, espresso, steamed milk), Black Coffee opened in the Vivian apartment complex in 2024.—
Kate Williams,
AJC.com,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
But even something about this roughness seems, in its way, right.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
-
That means that one in every 17 miles of Idaho roads studied scored poor on the roughness index.—
Rose Evans
May 11,
Idaho Statesman,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
Bram, his husband, has a demanding job at a museum in Rotterdam and Arnold’s bitterness has grown wearying.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2026
-
Find out how to beat boredom and bitterness while holding onto your job, with tips on how to build your next chapter, from career coach Cynthia Young.—
Courtney Connley-Hampton,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2026
Noun
-
Comprising classmates Nilsson, Nutt, James Falconer, Suellen Rocca, Art Green, and Karl Wirsum, the Who held their first exhibition at Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center in 1966, ushering a new mode of dank, bawdy rudeness into the city’s milieu.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
-
But these days civility, much like rudeness, can ride a stream of shares and retweets to the far corners of the world.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
That feeling stops, however, when pulling into gas stations or parking lots, where the length and lowness of the car require extreme care to keep the chin from scraping.—
Byron Hurd,
The Drive,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
But there’s also a discernible strain of hope and timeliness amid the bleakness in some of the most recent hits.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
20 May 2026
-
The choice yields a brighter, richer, more varied and nuanced story in which coming-of-age tropes mingle with Gileadean bleakness to reveal new facets of a state premised on male supremacy.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There are no great surprises from here on out, though the sheer, lusty grossness of the fallout is occasionally startling.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
-
If an exclamation point only signified gore and grossness, this gothic rock opera would more than qualify.—
Rachel Simon,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But many seemingly urbane texts also benefited from the intellectual and moral coarseness of their times.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
-
The term plant texture refers to the fineness or coarseness, roughness or smoothness, heaviness or lightness of a particular plant.—
David Beaulieu,
The Spruce,
15 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rawness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rawness. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
