nude

1 of 2

adjective

ˈnüd How to pronounce nude (audio)
ˈnyüd
nuder; nudest
1
: lacking something essential especially to legal validity
a nude contract
2
a
: devoid of a natural or conventional covering
especially : not covered by clothing or a drape
b(1)
: having a color that matches the wearer's skin tones
nude pantyhose
nude lipstick
(2)
: giving the appearance of nudity
a nude dress
c
: featuring nudes
a nude movie
d
: frequented by naked people
a nude beach
nude adverb
nudely adverb
nudeness noun
nudity
ˈnü-də-tē How to pronounce nude (audio)
ˈnyü-
noun

nude

2 of 2

noun

1
a
: a representation of a nude human figure
b
: a nude person
2
: the condition of being nude
in the nude
Choose the Right Synonym for nude

bare, naked, nude, bald, barren mean deprived of naturally or conventionally appropriate covering.

bare implies the removal of what is additional, superfluous, ornamental, or dispensable.

an apartment with bare walls

naked suggests absence of protective or ornamental covering but may imply a state of nature, of destitution, or of defenselessness.

poor half-naked children

nude applies especially to the unclothed human figure.

a nude model posing for art students

bald implies actual or seeming absence of natural covering and may suggest a conspicuous bareness.

a bald mountain peak

barren often suggests aridity or impoverishment or sterility.

barren plains

Examples of nude in a Sentence

Adjective The artists sketched the nude model. Picasso's paintings of nude art models. Noun the nudes of Greek sculpture the artist painted some models in the nude
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The whole family kept it monochromatic, with Kylie in a plunging patent black dress and nude illusion heels. Sam Reed, Glamour, 22 Mar. 2024 On the way to the L.A. airport, on Century Boulevard, there was a sign for nude bowling. Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024 Idris and Sabrina Elba arrived in style, with Sabrina wearing a nude Versace dress from the Fall/Winter 2001 runway collection with a wet look effect, possibly made from leather, while Idris wore an all-black suit with a black tie and a black button down underneath. Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 17 Mar. 2024 Musgraves initially teased the LP last month with nine cryptic (and caption-less) Instagram posts of her lying nude in a green field. Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024 Some subreddits were toxic and devoted to racist themes or nonconsensual nude photos, the type of content that advertisers found repellent. Mike Isaac, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 That’s because there was another picture of a woman, her long curly hair like a fire sneaking down her nude back. Hazlitt, 13 Mar. 2024 California Beverly Hills school district expels 8th graders involved in fake nude scandal March 7, 2024 The three men and teenager arrested Feb. 29 are suspected of carrying out a rash of burglaries of homes across East Hollywood earlier in the month. Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024 As a tribute to the 1974 Oscars streaker, John Cena walked onstage nude — sort of. Michael Schneider, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024
Noun
Yet his career, running roughly from the 1930s to the early 2000’s, also included advertising work for clients ranging from General Foods to Clinique, American laborers at work, abstract nudes, American street life and eclectic visages of everything from wilting flowers to garbage and street signs. Randy McMullen, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024 But despite efforts from the startups and companies working on the models to implement guardrails on the kind of content that can be generated, sensitive material like deepfake nudes and deepfake pornography are churned out regularly by major generative AI tools. Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 17 Mar. 2024 There’s a reclining nude in the position of Manet’s Olympia, with a cat, and a painting of nine nudes, all female, and one shadowy man. Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 30 Jan. 2024 Kardashian’s makeup brand also features her Soft Matte Lip Color, $32, a full-coverage, soft matte lipstick in 10 shades, as well as her Classic Mattes Eyeshadow Palette, $50, which includes 12 universally flattering nudes. Jackie Fields, Peoplemag, 26 Jan. 2024 Celebrities Who Have Hosted the Oscars the Most Times Eva Longoria and Florence Pugh talked by the bar, and then Pugh, 28, laughed with Emma Stone during Cena's nude presenting bit. Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 11 Mar. 2024 The fake nudes circulated briefly among Beverly Vista students in late February, school officials say. Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024 The warm tones of a gently overlined, matte nude played up Gomez's dimensional brunette hue. Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 25 Feb. 2024 Swift’s high-profile romance with Kelce continues to make waves on the internet — in addition to massive fan interest and support, the singer also recently became victim to pornographic AI nudes that mocked her Chiefs fandom. Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nude.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Latin nudus naked — more at naked

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1708, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of nude was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near nude

Cite this Entry

“Nude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nude. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

nude

1 of 2 adjective
nuder; nudest
: having no clothes on
nudeness noun

nude

2 of 2 noun
1
: a nude human figure especially as shown in art
2
: the condition of being nude
in the nude

More from Merriam-Webster on nude

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