unsophisticated

[uhn-suh-fis-ti-key-tid]

adjective

1. not sophisticated; sophisticated; simple; artless.

   Synonyms: inexperienced, naive, ingenuous

2. without complexity or refinements.

   a relatively unsophisticated mechanism.

3. unadulterated; pure; genuine.

unsophisticated

/ ˌʌnsəˈfɪstɪˌkeɪtɪd /

adjective

1. lacking experience or worldly wisdom

2. marked by a lack of refinement or complexity

   an unsophisticated machine

3. unadulterated or genuine

Other Word Forms

• unsophisticatedly adverb
• unsophisticatedness noun
• unsophistication noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unsophisticated¹

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

Example Sentences

Appalachia today includes pockets of extreme poverty and its inhabitants are often offensively depicted as "hillbillies" - simple, unsophisticated and poor.

From BBC

We were unsophisticated regarding the business end of it, and we just loved creating music.

From Los Angeles Times

When Mark Delgado made his MLS debut, he was just 17 and even he acknowledges his approach to soccer was unsophisticated.

From Los Angeles Times

This is because the American people are politically unsophisticated and are easily manipulated to believe things that are not true.

From Salon

The American public is politically unsophisticated, which means that many people are easily moved by emotional appeals and scary-sounding words — at least to them — such as “communism” and “socialism.”

From Salon

Related Words

• guileless 
• inexperienced 
• naive 
• straightforward 
• uninvolved