raw

/ɹɔː/

//ɹɔː// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"raw" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“raw” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,853) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,853
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (of food) Not cooked.

Corpus desk

Index EN-raw · raw · English

raw · rank #2,853 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,853
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH puts

Nearest frequency peer: puts (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “raw”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “raw” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

raw vs re
33% similar
raw vs RS
0% similar
raw vs rd
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for raw
PropertyValue
Headwordraw
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɹɔː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#2,853
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “raw”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).rawlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “puts” (#2,852), “reform” (#2,854), “protein” (#2,851). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “raw” is #2,853. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for raw is neighbouring look-alikes ("re", "RS", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /ɹɔː/. Frequency #2,853 among 3,094 “R” headwords. 13 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for raw in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "re", "RS", "rd", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 ra… The correct English form is raw, spelled R-A-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    (of food) Not cooked.
  2. 2
    (of food) Not cooked.
  3. 3
    Not treated or processed; in a natural state, unrefined, unprocessed. (of materials, products, etc.)
  4. 4
    Having had the skin removed or abraded; chafed, tender; exposed, lacerated.
  5. 5
    New or inexperienced.
  6. 6
    Crude in quality; rough, uneven, unsophisticated.
  7. 7
    Uncorrected, without analysis.
  8. 8
    Unpleasantly cold or damp. (of weather)
  9. 9
    Unmasked, undisguised, strongly expressed. (of an emotion, personality, etc.)
  10. 10
    Candid in a representation of unpleasant facts, conditions, etc.
  11. 11
    Unrefined, crude, or insensitive, especially with reference to sexual matters. (of language)
  12. 12
    Without a condom.
  13. 13
    Not covered; bare; bald.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how raw appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. There's nothing but raw fish in the freezer.
  2. He ate raw beef for dinner.

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

rawcrudenaturalpurepristineunprocessedunrefineduntoucheduntreated

Antonyms

contaminatedimpuremanufacturedmodifiedprocessedrefined

This word in other languages

crudo(Español)cru(Français)roh(Deutsch)cru(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "raw"?
"raw" is spelled R-A-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɔː/.
What does "raw" mean?
As an adjective, "raw" means: (of food) Not cooked.
What words are commonly confused with "raw"?
"raw" is commonly confused with "re", "RS", "rd". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "raw"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "raw" is /ɹɔː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "raw"?
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”)... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "raw", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hat#2,835wet#2,813NFL#2,802aim#2,927

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list