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Synonyms

unsophisticated

American  
[uhn-suh-fis-ti-kay-tid] / ˌʌn səˈfɪs tɪˌkeɪ tɪd /

adjective

  1. not sophisticated; simple; artless.

    Synonyms:
    inexperienced, naive, ingenuous
  2. without complexity or refinements.

    a relatively unsophisticated mechanism.

  3. unadulterated; pure; genuine.


unsophisticated British  
/ ˌʌnsəˈfɪstɪˌkeɪtɪd /

adjective

  1. lacking experience or worldly wisdom

  2. marked by a lack of refinement or complexity

    an unsophisticated machine

  3. unadulterated or genuine

"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

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of unsophisticated

First recorded in 1620–30; un- 1 + sophisticated


Vocabulary lists containing unsophisticated

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.

See Examples For:

Getting such a charter would give huge latitude to crypto banks, endangering unsophisticated investors, critics say.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

I think the last 10 years of the American experience has shown that the American public is quite unsophisticated in large parts of it.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026

The song's music video proved too much for a group of "concerned" public figures in Cyprus, who called it "unsophisticated" and "insulting to Cypriot history, traditions and aesthetics".

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

This isn’t really about sophisticated firms being punished by unsophisticated ones, although there’s some of that.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026

I had come to the army as an escape from my life—as many men did, I suppose—and though I’d had a complex and rougher childhood than most, I was still virtually unsophisticated.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen

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