naive
naive Lexical Profile
naive Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment; overly trusting or quick to believe that people and situations are fair and honest.
"It was naive of him to think that the complex dispute could be resolved in a single afternoon."
Natural and unaffected; lacking artificiality, pretension, or deceit.
"The children's performance had a naive charm that delighted the entire audience."
Relating to or denoting art produced in a straightforward, bold style by an artist without formal academic training.
"The gallery's new exhibition features nineteenth-century naive landscape paintings from rural France."
Word Nuance & Usage
Also spelled 'naïve' with a diaeresis over the 'i' to indicate that the two vowels are pronounced separately rather than as a single diphthong.
• Rhymes for naive
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-17th century from French 'naïf' (feminine 'naïve'), deriving from Latin 'nativus', meaning 'native, natural, or unspoiled'.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.