naive

adjective

na·ive | \ nä-ˈēv

, nī-\

variants: or naïve

naiver; naivest

Definition of naive

1 : marked by unaffected simplicity : artless, ingenuous the experienced man speaks simply and wisely to the naive girl— Gilbert Highet

2a : deficient in worldly wisdom or informed judgment their naive ignorance of life … when they were first married— Arnold Bennett especially : credulous … tells tall tales of the West to tweak naïve city slickers. — Miriam Horn

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 (such as marijuana)

c : not having been exposed previously to an antigen naive T cells

3a : self-taught, primitive

b : produced by or as if by a self-taught artist naive murals

Other Words from naive Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about naive

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Choose the Right Synonym for naive

natural, ingenuous, naive, unsophisticated, artless mean free from pretension or calculation. natural implies lacking artificiality and self-consciousness and having a spontaneousness suggesting the natural rather than the man-made world. her unaffected, natural manner ingenuous implies inability to disguise or conceal one's feelings or intentions. the ingenuous enthusiasm of children naive suggests lack of worldly wisdom often connoting credulousness and unchecked innocence. politically naive unsophisticated implies a lack of experience and training necessary for social ease and adroitness. unsophisticated adolescents artless suggests a naturalness resulting from unawareness of the effect one is producing on others. artless charm

Examples of naive in a Sentence

Secularism requires a commitment to civil liberty, which rests partly on respect for civil disobedience—peaceful acts of conscience that challenge rules of law. If civil libertarianism is naïve, then so is the hope of secular government. — Wendy Kaminer, Free Inquiry, December 2008/January 2009 He exhibits a naïve sort of confidence when talking about the doubts surrounding him and the perceived slights in the draft run-up. — Peter King, Sports Illustrated, 1 May 2006 His crimes were described as mere bumps in the road, minor offenses committed by a man-boy described as innocent, naïve, trusting, a simple country boy who got lost in airports and was astonished to find out that he could order a pizza over the phone. — Pat Jordan, Harper's, October 2004 a naive belief that all people are good a naive view of the world She asked a lot of naive questions. I was young and naive at the time, and I didn't think anything bad could happen to me. The plan seems a little naive. If you're naive enough to believe him, you'll believe anyone.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the horror of this particular situation is that Barr's tweet made all of us who argue for constant engagement and conversation look like naive fools. — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, "For Roseanne Barr and Bill Cosby, their names, unfortunately, were their shows," 1 June 2018 More storybook-like were the naive motifs that popped up at Bally, Bode, and Lanvin, where both Babar and the fairy-tale baddy, the sly fox, were used as accents. — Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, "It’s Time to Take a Recess From Serious Fashion—13 Camp Creations on the Fall Runways," 8 Apr. 2019 Abandoned to the world, these bewildered and naive Thin Bloods threaten the Masquerade, the elaborate social pact that prevents humans from finding out about vampires. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "15 years later, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is finally happening," 21 Mar. 2019 Brett Phillips plays Scotty Smalls, the naive newcomer who doesn't realize the peril of what awaits beyond the fence and volunteers to retrieve the ball. — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee Brewers comically recreate a famous scene from 'The Sandlot' in a new video," 18 Mar. 2018 They are considered naive, vulnerable and comparatively wealthy for El Salvador, even though many of them came there with nothing. — CNN, "Torn from their families in the US, Salvadoran deportees return to a gang-ravaged homeland," 7 June 2018 Stevens and McDonald sang to a naive, and way too loud Corden in a corn field. — Mackenzie Cummings-grady, Billboard, "Audra McDonald & Dan Stevens Turn 'Taxi Driver,' 'The Shape of Water' Into Inappropriate Musicals On 'Late Late Show': Watch," 22 May 2018 Lisa is naive and immature, never having had any of the normal independent experiences of someone her age. — Robin Abrahams, BostonGlobe.com, "Advice: Our niece is in a cult, and we’re afraid to give her money," 20 Mar. 2018 Netflix Once upon a time, network TV creators thought Netflix was naive to pay lots of money to license their old content. — Rani Molla, Recode, "Netflix and Hulu go in for comedies while Amazon sticks to drama: A look at the original content boom," 28 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'naive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.