Adjacent Words

naive definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: 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" [syn: naive, naif] [ant: sophisticated]
2: 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" [syn: primitive, naive]
3: inexperienced
4: lacking information or instruction; "lamentably unenlightened as to the laws" [syn: uninstructed, unenlightened, naive]
5: 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" [syn: uninitiate, uninitiated, naive]

Merriam Webster's

or naïve adjective (naiver; -est) Etymology: French naïve, feminine of naïf, from Old French, inborn, natural, from Latin nativus native Date: 1654 1. marked by unaffected simplicity ; artless, ingenuous 2. a. deficient in worldly wisdom or informed judgment; especially credulous b. not previously subjected to experimentation or a particular experimental situation <made the test with naive rats>; also not having previously used a particular drug (as marijuana) c. not having been exposed previously to an antigen <naive T cells> 3. a. self-taught, primitive b. produced by or as if by a self-taught artist <naive murals> Synonyms: see natural • naively or naïvely adverb • naiveness noun

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Naive Na"["i]ve`, a. [F. na["i]f, fem. na["i]ve, fr. L. nativus innate, natural, native. See Native, and cf. Na["i]f.] Having native or unaffected simplicity; ingenuous; artless; frank; as, na["i]ve manners; a na["i]ve person; na["i]ve and unsophisticated remarks.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

also naïve If you describe someone as naive, you think they lack experience and so expect things to be easy or people to be honest or kind. It's naive to think that teachers are always tolerant... ...naive idealists... Their view was that he had been politically naive. = unrealistic ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf, ADJ to-inf • naively ...naively applying Western solutions to Eastern problems... I thought, naively, that this would be a nine-to-five job. ADV: usu ADV with v • naivety I was alarmed by his naivety and ignorance of international affairs.

Moby Thesaurus

artless, awkward, befoolable, blankminded, bluff, blunt, born yesterday, budding, callow, candid, childlike, confiding, credulous, cullible, deceivable, deludable, dependent, depending, dewy, direct, dumb, dupable, easy, empty, empty-headed, exploitable, foolable, frank, fresh, gauche, green, groping, growing, guileless, gullible, hoaxable, hoodwinkable, humbugable, ignorant, immature, impubic, inane, inexperienced, ingenu, ingenuous, innocent, intact, juicy, know-nothing, minor, nescient, new-fledged, open, openhearted, original, outspoken, persuadable, plain, raw, reliant, relying, ripening, sappy, seduceable, simple, simplehearted, simpleminded, sincere, single-hearted, single-minded, soft, strange to, susceptible, tender, tentative, trustful, trusting, trusty, unacquainted, unadult, unaffected, unapprized, unartificial, uncomprehending, unconversant, underage, undeveloped, unenlightened, unfamiliar, unfledged, unformed, unguarded, unilluminated, uninformed, uninitiated, unintelligent, unknowing, unlicked, unmellowed, unposted, unreserved, unripe, unschooled, unseasoned, unsophisticated, unstudied, unsure, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, unversed, unwary, vacuous, vernal, victimizable, virginal, without suspicion