guileless
Americanadjective
-
free from deception or slyness; sincere and straightforward.
No matter the situation, she was always transparent, guileless, and above any petty manipulative ploys.
-
lacking awareness of the world and worldly things; innocent or naive.
He agreed to this crafty proposal, being guileless, and soon found himself betrayed and in trouble.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of guileless
Explanation
If you are guileless, you are not a liar; you are innocent, and you might be a touch on the gullible side. To be guileless is to be without guile. Guile is "deceit, duplicity and trickery." The young and uninitiated are the ones we call guileless, and they are the ones who often get stung by the more heartless among us. You might recall being a guileless freshman trying out for the school play, and being told by a veteran performer that it would be best to come to the audition for Our Town in a chicken costume, so you did.
Vocabulary lists containing guileless
The Kite Runner
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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The Jungle
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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.
They share guileless features and the courage to take creative risks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
He’s adorable, guileless and given to the sort of offhand poetry that only tender youth can produce, casually reflecting on “the deep surprise of the ocean.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
As outspoken and sometimes guileless as she is, Madonna tends to choose her words carefully when the cameras are rolling.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
“A party plaintiff’s misguided belief or guileless action in relying on a statement on which no reasonable person would rely is not justifiable reliance,” according to Vondran Legal, which has offices in California and Arizona.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 23, 2026
This girl’s guileless remark came as an illumination, an instant knowledge that brought with it the first buds of true shame.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
