ingénue
Americannoun
plural
ingénues-
an artless, innocent, unworldly girl or young woman.
Navy and cocoa browns are good neutrals for the ingénue, and the right creamy beige or pearl gray are good choices for her more classic outfits.
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the role of a young, innocent, and appealing character in a play, movie, TV show, etc., typically a female role.
-
an actress or actor who plays such a role or specializes in playing such roles.
-
a young actress or actor.
At the awards event, natural diamonds were the gemstone of choice for both Hollywood ingenues and veterans alike.
-
a young, inexperienced person.
The ailing leader Kim Jong Il sought to transfer power to his youngest son, a political ingenue in his 20s.
noun
Etymology
Origin of ingénue
First recorded in 1840–50; from French, feminine of ingénu, from Latin ingenuus “native, inborn”; ingenuous; ingenuity ( def. )
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.
In these images Sellers—a comic giant at the height of his career—acts as an eager paparazzo chasing after the self-assured ingénue.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
The last verse, and the album's closing words, are addressed to pop music's next young ingénue.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2024
Kelli O’Hara and Adam Guettel had the inkling more than 20 years ago, when she was a Broadway ingénue, working on what became her breakthrough Tony-nominated role in “Light in the Piazza.”
From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024
She’s no ingénue, but the rise of Uzo Aduba has been nothing shy of meteoric.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 1, 2023
"There may be something in that," said Lavender carelessly; "but of course, you know, with a widow it is different; and Mrs. Lorraine never does go in for the ingénue."
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 11, No. 24, March, 1873 by Various
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.
