in the buff

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

in the buff

1. (informal, idiomatic) Nude.

   She was in the buff on the beach.

   The streaker ran across the playing field in the buff.

   • 2021 October 18, Ian Lecklitzner, “The Inevitable Rise of the Work-From-Home Nudist”, in MEL Magazine‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2026 June 16, “Naked cycling: is it ever acceptable to ride a rental bike in the nude?”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     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.

Translations

nude

• Faroese: heilt nakin, spilnakin, blóðnakin
• French: à poil (fr)
• Galician: en coiros, en porrancho
• German: völlig nackig, splitterfasernackt (de)
• Russian: (adjectival) го́лый (ru) (gólyj), наго́й (ru) (nagój), обнажённый (ru) (obnažónnyj); (adverbial) голышо́м (ru) (golyšóm), в чём мать родила́ (v čom matʹ rodilá)
• Spanish: en pelotas (es)

Further reading

• Gary Martin (1997–), “In the buff”, in The Phrase Finder.