unsophisticated
Americanadjective
-
not sophisticated; simple; artless.
- Synonyms:
- inexperienced, naive, ingenuous
-
without complexity or refinements.
a relatively unsophisticated mechanism.
-
unadulterated; pure; genuine.
adjective
-
lacking experience or worldly wisdom
-
marked by a lack of refinement or complexity
an unsophisticated machine
-
unadulterated or genuine
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of unsophisticated
First recorded in 1620–30; un- 1 + sophisticated
Vocabulary lists containing unsophisticated
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Market and economic concentration is in one new sector that is highly volatile and risky—and is super-popular among unsophisticated investors,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
This isn’t really about sophisticated firms being punished by unsophisticated ones, although there’s some of that.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026
Everything fell: oil prices, the dollar, even gold, because investors were shocked by how unsophisticated and draconian the policy was.
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026
Colonial-era urban elites in Calcutta, influenced by European tastes, often dismissed jatra as rustic or unsophisticated.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
He did time for that, something neither he nor Mommy ever told us about, though I always wondered how a guy who seemed so unsophisticated could be so clever at checkers.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
