naive
Americanadjective
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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.
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having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.
- Antonyms:
- artful, sophisticated
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having or marked by a simple, unaffectedly direct style reflecting little or no formal training or technique.
valuable naive 19th-century American portrait paintings.
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not having previously been the subject of a scientific experiment, as an animal.
adjective
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having or expressing innocence and credulity; ingenuous
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( as collective noun; preceded by the )
only the naive believed him
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artless or unsophisticated
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lacking developed powers of analysis, reasoning, or criticism
a naive argument
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another word for primitive
noun
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
Etymology
Origin of naive
First recorded in 1645–55; from French, feminine of naïf, Old French naif “natural, instinctive,” from Latin nātīvus native
Explanation
No one likes being called naive, since it means you lack sophistication or street smarts. A person who is too trusting can be criticized for being overly naive: "You're so naive, you think that map you bought online will really lead you to buried treasure!" Naive shares the same root as native, and originally meant "natural" or "not artificial." It can still be used in a more positive meaning when describing a charming lack of artificiality, as in "the naive style of folk art made by an untrained painter."
Vocabulary lists containing naive
"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 9
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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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.
I have a painfully naive fantasy of being a war correspondent, but that’s not what this is.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
His "excessive reliance on the self-regulating aspects of markets seemed dangerously naive, and eventually blew up in his face and everybody's face," Blinder told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
He's not naive, he knows how brutally hard this is going to be against Morocco.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
He can’t decide whether she is naive or sophisticated, an earthbound Midwestern girl or the incarnation of the eternal feminine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
“She is misguided and naive, but the girl has pluck. She would move the Black Forest itself to reach the wolf children before the first full moon of May.”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
