This post is part of an effort to provide a glossary for novice submissives of words commonly seen across this site and in the BDSM community.

There are a lot of words that we use in the vanilla world that have many different meanings and aren't specific about which one we intend when we use it. Being nude or being naked in a vanilla sense may have the same definition, however there are subtleties that you might want to note in case your Dominant uses both terms and expects a different result from each.

Nude essentially means "without clothing." With this definition you should expect to be asked to remove your clothing, but leave jewelry, makeup and hair adornments on. The only thing you are being asked to remove here is your clothing.

Being naked typically means, "as you were born." In this setting you would be asked to present without clothing, jewelry (collar may be an exception, so ask), makeup, hair adornments and the like becoming as naked as you were born.

Not all Dominants use these specific terms this way and many will use them interchangeably so make sure you ask for clarification if you are unsure how to present.

Norische, a prolific writer of BDSM related essays also covered this difference in her essay titled Choose Your Words Carefully II: Nude vs. Naked.