naive

Or na·ïve

[nah-eev]

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.

naive

/ 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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of naive¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of naive¹

C17: from French, feminine of naïf, from Old French naif native, spontaneous, from Latin nātīvus _native , from nasci to be born

Example Sentences

A naive and wealthy man named Simon Aron falls under the spell of Mocata, the leader of a Satanic society active in London and southern England.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s like hitting a bullet with a bullet,” someone says, crushing the naive notion of an impregnable “nuclear defense.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

For a dozen years and more they've been belittled by Celtic and, as much as Martin's plea for patience was understandable, it was also naive.

Read more on BBC

That doesn’t mean she was a pushover or naive; she took names and kept receipts of those who had done her wrong.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Nato's secretary general Mark Rutte said: "We are a defensive alliance, yes, but we are not naive, so we see what is happening."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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