altogether

be in the altogether

old-fashioned To be naked. I keep having the dream where I am in the altogether as I walk through the halls of my old high school. My toddler hates wearing clothes for some reason. He would just rather be in the altogether all day! A: "Why the heck were you in the altogether in the dorm hallway?" B: "Because I'd just gotten out of the shower and realized I didn't have a towel!"

See also: altogether

in the altogether

old-fashioned Naked. I keep having the dream where I walk into my high school in the altogether! I used to have a roommate who always liked traipsing around the apartment in the altogether. It was so embarrassing! My toddler hates wearing clothes for some reason. He would just rather be in the altogether all day!

See also: altogether

run around in the altogether

informal To be naked while doing things or going from place to place. When you were a toddler, there was nothing you liked better than running around outside in the altogether!

See also: altogether, around, run

sleep in the altogether

old-fashioned To wear no clothes while sleeping. It gets so hot here in the summertime that I have to sleep in the altogether at night.

See also: altogether, sleep

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*in the altogether

 and *in the buff; *in the nude; *in the raw

Fig. naked; nude. (*Typically: be ~; get [into] ~; sleep ~.) The museum has a painting of some ladies in the buff. Mary felt a little shy about getting into the altogether. Bill says he sleeps in the raw.

See also: altogether

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

in the altogether

Also, in or stripped to the buff ; in the raw. Naked, nude, as in The art class wanted a model to pose in the altogether, or She was stripped to the buff when the doorbell rang, or He always sleeps in the raw. The first of these colloquial terms dates from the late 1800s. In the buff, a seemingly modern locution dates from the 1600s, buff alluding to a soft, undyed leather, buffskin, that also gave its name to the color. The use of raw, presumably also alluding to raw (undressed) leather, dates from the early 1900s.

See also: altogether

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

in the altogether

without any clothes on; naked. informal

1991 Today The mothers…have agreed to pose in the altogether.

See also: altogether

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017