naive

American  

[nah-eev] / nɑˈiv /

Or naïve

adjective

1. having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information; credulous.

   She's so naive she believes everything she reads.

   He has a very naive attitude toward politics.

2. having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.

   Synonyms:

   plain, open, candid, guileless, artless, unaffected, simple

   Antonyms:

   artful, sophisticated

3. having or marked by a simple, unaffectedly direct style reflecting little or no formal training or technique.

   valuable naive 19th-century American portrait paintings.

4. not having previously been the subject of a scientific experiment, as an animal.

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naive British  

/ naɪˈiːv /

adjective

1. 1. having or expressing innocence and credulity; ingenuous

   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      only the naive believed him

2. artless or unsophisticated

3. lacking developed powers of analysis, reasoning, or criticism

   a naive argument

4. another word for primitive

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noun

1. rare a person who is naive, esp in artistic style See primitive

Usage

This word is spelled with a dieresis over the i (ï) in French, indicating that it is a separate vowel sound. Many people retain this spelling when writing in English.

Other Word Forms

• naively adverb
• naiveness noun
• unnaive adjective

Etymology

Origin of naive

First recorded in 1645–55; from French, feminine of naïf, Old French naif “natural, instinctive,” from Latin nātīvus native

Example Sentences

Jenny told her case detective and he said he would come back to her, but he never did: "I was so young and naive, I didn't push him on it."

From BBC

I know it sounds both naive and quaint, but going to see a game should be a common ritual with family and/or friends.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fourteen days, four defeats - one a cup final, another a top-of-the-table clash - several alarmingly naive comments, the ridiculed use of a tactics board, and an eye-popping social media post.

From BBC

"Mainstream parties would be naive to assume that these voters will simply return when they get older," he adds.

From BBC

The report said that Pierce was "naive and inexperienced in coping with anybody who treated him in this way".

From BBC

Related Words

• ignorant
• innocent
• simple
• sincere
• unsophisticated
• wide-eyed