naive
or na·ïve
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.
having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.
having or marked by a simple, unaffectedly direct style reflecting little or no formal training or technique: valuable naive 19th-century American portrait paintings.
not having previously been the subject of a scientific experiment, as an animal.
Origin of naive
1usage note For naive
Other words for naive
Opposites for naive
Other words from naive
- na·ive·ly, adverb
- na·ive·ness, noun
- un·na·ive, adjective
Words Nearby naive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use naive in a sentence
Meanwhile, some pandemic experts say that presuming a return to normal public life, critical to Disney, would be naive anytime in the near future.
Disney took a hit during the pandemic, but you wouldn’t know it from its stock price | Steven Zeitchik | February 19, 2021 | Washington PostWe’re not naive to think that a business deal can’t blow up.
The Baltimore Sun was spared a hedge-fund owner. Now it will try to survive as a nonprofit. | Paul Farhi, Elahe Izadi | February 17, 2021 | Washington PostIt would be naive to think a robust sports schedule would have prevented the Capitol riot.
This odd Super Bowl will bring us together for a day. Let’s not take that for granted. | Jerry Brewer | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostIt was always optimistic, boarding on the naive, to think a new year would immediately wash away the problems of 2020.
‘More comfortable with the uncomfortable’: 2021 promises an uneasy sense of déjà vu for advertisers | Seb Joseph | February 1, 2021 | DigidayIn many ways and for many years, Viking scholars have been naive and simplistic about their acknowledgement and recognition of gender variation in the later Iron Age.
I was naive enough to assume that he would, at most, rob me.
Artists now consider the Ideal Palace a piece of “naive” or “outsider” art.
The Postman Who Built a Palace in France…by Hand | Nina Strochlic | November 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTShe tackles weighty subjects with a naive sensibility and faux-innocence, but skillfully avoids dumbing them down.
I was definitely naive, I think the main similarity between me and Hal is that we were naive.
Maybe you can call it naive but that's the way Shae simply is.
Game of Thrones’ Sibel Kekilli Discusses Shae’s Treachery at the Trial of Tyrion Lannister | Marlow Stern | May 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd Jansoulet felt the delight of a child, a plebeian joy, compounded of ignorance and naive vanity.
The Nabob | Alphonse DaudetThere was a naturalness in his enjoyment which was almost boylike; a naive sort of exultation possessed him.
When Valmond Came to Pontiac, Complete | Gilbert ParkerBuzonniere, Rochfort and Fangouse are milder and more naive in their demonstrations and their works are of no weight or interest.
Baron d'Holbach | Max Pearson CushingA remark which Mendelssohn once made in his peculiar naive manner is very characteristic of him and his opinion of Chopin.
Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician | Frederick NiecksBut he got the impression that she was almost fantastically naive.
A World Called Crimson | Darius John Granger
British Dictionary definitions for naive
nave naf
/ (naɪˈiːv) /
having or expressing innocence and credulity; ingenuous
(as collective noun; preceded by the): only the naive believed him
artless or unsophisticated
lacking developed powers of analysis, reasoning, or criticism: a naive argument
another word for primitive (def. 5)
rare a person who is naive, esp in artistic style: See primitive (def. 10)
Origin of naive
1Derived forms of naive
- naively, navely or nafly, adverb
- naiveness, naveness or nafness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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