naively

American  

[nah-eev-lee] / nɑˈiv li /

Or naïvely

adverb

1. in a way that shows a lack of experience, judgment, or information.

   I'll just stretch the contents of my talks into a book, I thought naively, but after three years of hard work I’m still far from completing a manuscript.

2. in a way that shows simplicity of character and the absence of artificiality or sophistication.

   The ancient historian Herodotus marks a transitional stage in cultural anthropology, between naively artless chronicle writing and scientific research.

3. in a way not influenced by previous participation in a scientific experiment or awareness of its real purpose.

   Participants behave naively and more naturally if they don’t know the true nature or objective of the study.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unnaively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of naively

naive ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Naively, I had thought this sort of thing could not happen because I was an individual with rights.

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2023

Naively I thought my close connection to the school made me more than a cog in their machine.

From Salon • Jan. 16, 2022

Naively, I assumed the players and travelling media would be free to enjoy Christmas Day, but I soon learned that is not what transpires with a Test starting the next day.

From BBC • Dec. 24, 2021

Naively believing that there were fundamental laws of social movements, I intended to master them and apply them to Black liberation movements as a participant and, I fantasized, as a leader.

From Scientific American • Feb. 3, 2021

Naively I thought that he himself would make a good model for a biographical sketch.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• foolishly
• stupidly