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

His perspective as faux-naive or actually naive outsider — “I prefer actually naive,” Theroux said when I put it that way — yields a number of unexpected benefits.

From Salon

And here, into its belly, marches a young prosecutor with a naive faith in the state, the law, the ideal of justice.

From The Wall Street Journal

"I was ambitious, audacious and a little bit of naive," will.i.am said of pursuing the project.

From Barron's

In recent months, this idea has taken visual form across fashion runways, with brands from Chanel to Acne Studios showcasing childlike sketches, often referred to as ‘naive design’.

From Los Angeles Times

Speaking at the trial of Paul Quinn, the woman said she was "very naive" and had "listened to what the police said" when she raised her identification concerns.

From BBC

Related Words

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