Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

in the buff

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.59 in modern English

Syllables: in- the buff
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep_phrase

Informal

Example Sentences

"She was in the buff on the beach."
"The streaker ran across the playing field in the buff."
"Not to mention, nudity can be just plain convenient. “Laundry is minimal,” Schulte notes. It also doesn’t hurt that being in the buff spices up his workday."
"Primarily because everyone is freaking out about the, er, let’s call them consequences of sharing a saddle with someone who has ridden it in the buff."

Etymology

From buff (“bare skin”, literally “brownish yellow”), an allusion to the color of tanned light skin.

Usage

Informal

Synonyms

bare-assed bare-ass in the altogether in the raw raw peeled naked as a jaybird stark naked

Questions

What does in the buff mean?: Nude.
Where does in the buff come from?: From buff (“bare skin”, literally “brownish yellow”), an allusion to the color of tanned light skin.

How to pronounce in the buff

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “in the buff”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “in the buff”.
Repeat and practice — Say “in the buff” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.