stark naked
Completely nakedCompletely naked.
» Tom was standing there stark naked.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(not comparable)Completely naked.
splitternackt, splitterfasernackt, fasernackt
(used informally) completely unclothed
Examples
18 sentencesTom was standing there stark naked.
Tom was stark naked.
Tom sunbathes stark naked.
I was stark naked.
I feel stark naked.
Translations
4 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English stert naked (steort nakt, sternaked, star naked); the first element isFrom Middle English stert naked (steort nakt, sternaked, star naked); the first element is from Old English steort (“tail”). The change from "start-naked" to "stark-naked" was most likely by folk etymology due to a misinterpretation of the phrase as being a way of saying "starkly naked" ("strongly naked, harshly naked"). The opposite change has shifted buck naked to butt naked in colloquial modern English.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Synonyms
7 synonyms- (used informally) completely unclothed:in the altogetherin the buffin the rawrawpeelednaked as a jaybird