naively

American  

[nah-eev-lee] / nɑˈiv li /

Or naïvely

adverb

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• unnaively adverb

Etymology

Origin of naively

naive ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Her barrister said Pinckard's "giving of cakes and sweets" was "naively and stupidly trying to make the lives of prisoners somewhat better".

From BBC

Ridgeon said she "rather naively" thought she and her daughter could catch them quite easily using slip leads.

From BBC

That means that even if the Fed delivers multiple rate cuts this year, the labor market may not benefit as much as some might be naively counting on.

From MarketWatch

There’s an obvious objection to all this: It sounds as if we’re naively personifying a giant math problem, mistaking statistical patterns for sentience—falling for the oldest anthropomorphic error in the book.

From The Wall Street Journal

Firstly, they had, perhaps naively, imagined that the briefings would generate some news, but not wall-to-wall headline news.

From BBC

Related Words

• foolishly
• stupidly