naively
Americanadverb
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in a way that shows a lack of experience, judgment, or information.
I'll just stretch the contents of my talks into a book, I thought naively, but after three years of hard work I’m still far from completing a manuscript.
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in a way that shows simplicity of character and the absence of artificiality or sophistication.
The ancient historian Herodotus marks a transitional stage in cultural anthropology, between naively artless chronicle writing and scientific research.
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in a way not influenced by previous participation in a scientific experiment or awareness of its real purpose.
Participants behave naively and more naturally if they don’t know the true nature or objective of the study.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of naively
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.
Naively I had hoped you couldn't lose a baby that had taken five rounds of IVF to create.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2024
Naively, you might think this means the sun is teal!
From Scientific American • Sep. 1, 2023
Naively, I had thought this sort of thing could not happen because I was an individual with rights.
From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2023
Naively I thought my close connection to the school made me more than a cog in their machine.
From Salon • Jan. 16, 2022
Naively I told my mother that I did not have a pass, suggesting that the police would not take me away.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
