English Explanatory Dictionary

naive

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Lacking worldly experience, wisdom, or judgement; unsophisticated.
  2. Not having been exposed to something.
  3. Produced in a simple, childlike style, deliberately rejecting sophisticated techniques.
  4. Intuitive; designed to follow the way ordinary people approach a problem.
noun
  1. A naive person; a greenhorn.

Pronunciation

/naɪˈiːv/ /nɑːˈiːv/ nī'ēv /naɪˈiv/ /nɑˈiv/ En-us-naive.ogg /nɑˈjiʋ/ [näː.jiːʋ] /nəˈjiʋ/ [nɐ.jiːʋ]

Word forms

naive naiver more naive naivest most naive naïve naiive naives

Etymology

Borrowed from French naïve, feminine form of naïf, from Latin nātīvus (“native, natural”). Doublet of native.

Synonyms

artless callow childlike verdant clueless credulous dewy-eyed cute fleeceable foppotee green guileless ingenuous innocent jejune Panglossian Panglossic quaint simple simple-hearted simple-minded starry-eyed unaffected undesigning unpretentious unsophisticated untested unworldly wide-eyed immature born yesterday wet behind the ears virgin

Antonyms

affected mature nuanced pretentious sophisticated wily worldly

Related words

naif naïf naïveté naivety babe in the woods be born yesterday beginner bumpkin gullible ingenue mark new newbie new kid on the block noob noobie greenhorn just fell off the back of a turnip truck rube sucker sweet summer child

Derived words

bionaive chemonaive drug-naive drug naive immunologically naive immunonaive naive falsificationism naively naiveness naive realist naivism naivist semi-naive
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