naive

na·ive or na·ïve  (n-v, nä-) also na·if or na·ïf (n-f, nä-)

adj.

1. Lacking worldly experience and understanding, especially:

a. Simple and guileless; artless: a child with a naive charm.

b. Unsuspecting or credulous: "Students, often bright but naive, betand losesubstantial sums of money on sporting events" (Tim Layden).

2. Showing or characterized by a lack of sophistication and critical judgment: "this extravagance of metaphors, with its naive bombast" (H.L. Mencken).

3.

a. Not previously subjected to experiments: testing naive mice.

b. Not having previously taken or received a particular drug: persons naive to marijuana.

n.

One who is artless, credulous, or uncritical.

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[French naïve, feminine of naïf, from Old French naif, natural, native, from Latin ntvus, native, rustic, from ntus, past participle of nsc, to be born; see gen- in Indo-European roots.]

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na·ively adv.

na·iveness n.

Synonyms: naive, simple, ingenuous, unsophisticated, natural, unaffected, guileless, artless
These adjectives mean free from guile, cunning, or sham. Naive sometimes connotes a credulity that impedes effective functioning in a practical world: "this naive simple creature, with his straightforward and friendly eyes so eager to believe appearances" (Arnold Bennett).
Simple stresses absence of complexity, artifice, pretentiousness, or dissimulation: "Those of highest worth and breeding are most simple in manner and attire" (Francis Parkman). "Among simple people she had the reputation of being a prodigy of information" (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
Ingenuous denotes childlike directness, simplicity, and innocence; it connotes an inability to mask one's feelings: an ingenuous admission of responsibility.
Unsophisticated indicates absence of worldliness: the astonishment of unsophisticated tourists at the tall buildings.
Natural stresses spontaneity that is the result of freedom from self-consciousness or inhibitions: "When Kavanagh was present, Alice was happy, but embarrassed; Cecelia, joyous and natural" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
Unaffected implies sincerity and lack of affectation: "With men he can be rational and unaffected, but when he has ladies to please, every feature works" (Jane Austen).
Guileless signifies absence of insidious or treacherous cunning: a guileless, disarming look.
Artless stresses absence of plan or purpose and suggests unconcern for or lack of awareness of the reaction produced in others: a child of artless grace and simple goodness.

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naive [nye-eev]

Adjective

1. innocent and gullible

2. simple and lacking sophistication: naive art [French, from Latin nativus native]

naively adv

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	naive - marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience; "a teenager's naive ignorance of life"; "the naive assumption that things can only get better"; "this naive simple creature with wide friendly eyes so eager to believe appearances" naif credulous - disposed to believe on little evidence; "the gimmick would convince none but the most credulous" uninformed - not informed; lacking in knowledge or information; "the uninformed public" unworldly - not concerned with the temporal world or swayed by mundane considerations; "was unworldly and did not greatly miss worldly rewards"- Sheldon Cheney sophisticated - having or appealing to those having worldly knowledge and refinement and savoir-faire; "sophisticated young socialites"; "a sophisticated audience"; "a sophisticated lifestyle"; "a sophisticated book"
	2.	naive - of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style; "primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking" primitive beaux arts, fine arts - the study and creation of visual works of art untrained - not disciplined or conditioned or made adept by training; "an untrained voice"; "untrained troops"; "young minds untrained in the habit of concentration"
	3.	naive - inexperienced innate, unconditioned, unlearned - not established by conditioning or learning; "an unconditioned reflex"
	4.	naive - lacking information or instruction; "lamentably unenlightened as to the laws" uninstructed, unenlightened uninformed - not informed; lacking in knowledge or information; "the uninformed public"
	5.	naive - not initiated; deficient in relevant experience; "it seemed a bizarre ceremony to uninitiated western eyes"; "he took part in the experiment as a naive subject" uninitiate, uninitiated inexperienced, inexperient - lacking practical experience or training

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naive or naïve naïf

adjective gullible, trusting, credulous, unsuspicious, green, simple, innocent, childlike, callow, unsophisticated, unworldly, artless, ingenuous, guileless, wet behind the ears (informal) jejune, as green as grass << OPPOSITE worldly

Translations

naive [nɑːˈiːv] adj → naiv