naivety
naivety Lexical Profile
naivety Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The state or quality of lacking worldly experience, practical wisdom, or critical judgment, often resulting in a readiness to trust or believe others too easily.
"The young entrepreneur's initial naivety about contract law nearly cost him control of his startup."
A naive, artless, or unsophisticated remark, action, or trait.
"Looking back on his early essays, the author smiled at the youthful naiveties scattered throughout his arguments."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Naivety" and "naivete" are interchangeable variants; "naivety" is the fully anglicized spelling and three-syllable pronunciation preferred in British English and common in American English, whereas "naivete" retains the French final vowel sound.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 17th century from French naïveté, derived from Old French naif ('natural, native, artless'), which comes from Latin nativus ('born, innate, natural'), from nasci ('to be born').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.