English Explanatory Dictionary

stark naked

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Completely naked.
noun
  1. Raw gin.

Word forms

stark naked

Etymology

From 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.

Synonyms

nude strip me naked
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