guileless
Americanadjective
-
free from deception or slyness; sincere and straightforward.
No matter the situation, she was always transparent, guileless, and above any petty manipulative ploys.
-
lacking awareness of the world and worldly things; innocent or naive.
He agreed to this crafty proposal, being guileless, and soon found himself betrayed and in trouble.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- guilelessly adverb
- guilelessness noun
Etymology
Origin of guileless
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.
“A party plaintiff’s misguided belief or guileless action in relying on a statement on which no reasonable person would rely is not justifiable reliance,” according to Vondran Legal, which has offices in California and Arizona.
From MarketWatch
Yet here comes Maye, the guileless face behind the most maddening revival in sports.
The child is as smart and cunning as Dunk is thick and guileless.
From Los Angeles Times
Bald with severe features but a soft and guileless disposition, he’s fidgety about the whole Hollywood press dance — this is only his fourth feature film score.
From Los Angeles Times
You may remember those matches from “Forrest Gump,” but Tom Hanks’ guileless sweetheart would never use the sport to smuggle gold bars out of Hong Kong, as the real Reisman once did.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
