ingenue

noun

in·​ge·​nue ˈan-jə-ˌnü 

ˈän-;

ˈaⁿ-zhə-,

ˈäⁿ-

variants or ingénue

1

: a naive girl or young woman

2

: the stage role of an ingenue

also : an actress playing such a role

Did you know?

Although Becky Sharp, the ambitious heroine of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel Vanity Fair, is not usually thought of as innocent or naive, the author used ingenue to describe her as having those qualities. Thackeray's use was attributive: "When attacked sometimes, Becky had a knack of adopting a demure ingenue air, under which she was most dangerous." The word ingenue typically refers to someone who is innocent to the ways of the world, so you probably won't be too surprised to learn that it shares an ancestor—Latin ingenuus—with ingenuous, a word meaning "showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness." More directly, our ingenue comes from French ingénue, the feminine form of ingénu, meaning "ingenuous."

Examples of ingenue in a Sentence

In her latest film she plays the part of an ingenue.

Recent Examples on the Web

Buy Now 09 of 15 'The Seventh Veil of Salome' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia A big-budget film about the legendary Salome, stepdaughter of King Herod, an unknown Mexican ingenue and a bit player who will go to any lengths to restart her career. —Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 14 Sep. 2024

For every turn of phrase that could move Emily Cooper (played by Lily Collins) up a Duolingo level, the marketing ingenue peppers her cheery English sentences with a whole lot of embarrassing merde. —Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 21 Aug. 2024

In the first episode, Collins’ late-twentysomething marketing executive Emily—capable and bright-eyed, the classic ingenue—learns she’s being dispatched to Paris. —Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024

The film followed storm-chasing scientists trying to use that special apparatus (a meteorological device containing hundreds of sensors and named after the tornado-jockey ingenue in The Wizard of Oz) to understand the inner workings of one of nature’s most fearsome phenomena. —Max Springer, Scientific American, 19 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

French ingénue, feminine of ingénu ingenuous, from Latin ingenuus

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

ingenue

noun

in·​ge·​nue

variants or ingénue

ˈan-jə-ˌnü 

ˈän-

: an innocent girl or young woman or an actress playing such a person