naively








adjective

  1. having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.
  2. having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information; credulous: She’s so naive she believes everything she reads. He has a very naive attitude toward politics.
  3. having or marked by a simple, unaffectedly direct style reflecting little or no formal training or technique: valuable naive 19th-century American portrait paintings.
  4. not having previously been the subject of a scientific experiment, as an animal.

adjective

    1. having or expressing innocence and credulity; ingenuous
    2. (as collective noun; preceded by the)only the naive believed him
  1. artless or unsophisticated
  2. lacking developed powers of analysis, reasoning, or criticisma naive argument
  3. another word for primitive (def. 5)

noun

  1. rare a person who is naive, esp in artistic styleSee primitive (def. 10)

adj.1650s, “natural, simple, artless,” from French naïve, fem. of naïf, from Old French naif “naive, natural, genuine; just born; foolish, innocent; unspoiled, unworked” (13c.), from Latin nativus “not artificial,” also “native, rustic,” literally “born, innate, natural” (see native (adj.)). Related: Naively. adj.

  1. Lacking worldliness and sophistication.
  2. Simple and credulous as a child.
  3. Not previously subjected to experiments.
  4. Not having previously taken or received a particular drug.

n.

  1. One who is artless, credulous, or uncritical.
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