in·gen·u·ous
in-ˈjen-yə-wəs 
-yü-əs
1
a
: showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness
… her ingenuous thirst for experience …—
Christopher Rawson
Christopher Rawson
b
: lacking craft or subtlety
ingenuous in their brutality
ingenuously
adverb
ingenuousness
noun
obsolete
Did you know?
Ingenuous is most often used to describe someone who has a childlike innocence and openness. It should not be confused with ingenious, which typically describes someone who is unusually inventive or clever, or something made or done in an especially original or clever way. The words look very much alike, but sound different: remember that ingenuous sounds like its linguistic relation genuine, while ingenious sounds like genius—despite the fact that there is no etymological connection between those two. For more on this pair, read on.
Synonyms of ingenuous
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Adjective (1)
Examples of ingenuous in a Sentence
Adjective (1)
photographs that capture the ingenuous smiles of young children at play
the story of an ingenuous newcomer to the big city who outwits the slickers at their own game
Recent Examples on the Web
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026
Unbeknownst to her parents, the sweetly ingenuous Katie has made friends with the generously candy-dispensing family next door, and is abducted one afternoon in the midst of a sweeping windstorm — a standout setpiece, awash in roiled dust and rising panic.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 Apr. 2026
Ross, meanwhile, exudes suspiciously ingenuous charisma as the heavily accented voice coming out of Meek’s Speak & Spell.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2026
The former spouses co-parent an ingenuous teen, Carmelo (Jalyn Hall).
—Judy Berman, Time, 20 Feb. 2026
By the water’s edge, her insecure 25-year-old son, Konstantin (Kodi Smit-McPhee), is mounting a post-apocalyptic play in which his enduring love, ingenuous country girl Nina (Emma Corrin), can act.
—Hayley Maitland, Vogue, 12 Feb. 2025
Jennifer Johnson Cano’s mezzo-soprano was smoothly plangent as Emilia; the tenor Pene Pati was a sweetly ingenuous Cassio.
—New York Times, 22 May 2022
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Adjective
Modern Love used a photo of David Bowie in a long dress as his profile picture, and so the ingenuous, myopic Floyd expects a woman.
—Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026
Unbeknownst to her parents, the sweetly ingenuous Katie has made friends with the generously candy-dispensing family next door, and is abducted one afternoon in the midst of a sweeping windstorm — a standout setpiece, awash in roiled dust and rising panic.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 Apr. 2026
Ross, meanwhile, exudes suspiciously ingenuous charisma as the heavily accented voice coming out of Meek’s Speak & Spell.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2026
The former spouses co-parent an ingenuous teen, Carmelo (Jalyn Hall).
—Judy Berman, Time, 20 Feb. 2026
By the water’s edge, her insecure 25-year-old son, Konstantin (Kodi Smit-McPhee), is mounting a post-apocalyptic play in which his enduring love, ingenuous country girl Nina (Emma Corrin), can act.
—Hayley Maitland, Vogue, 12 Feb. 2025
Jennifer Johnson Cano’s mezzo-soprano was smoothly plangent as Emilia; the tenor Pene Pati was a sweetly ingenuous Cassio.
—New York Times, 22 May 2022
Cite this Entry
“Ingenuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ingenuous. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
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