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Synonym Chooser

How is the word artless different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of artless are ingenuous, naive, natural, and unsophisticated. While all these words mean "free from pretension or calculation," artless suggests a naturalness resulting from unawareness of the effect one is producing on others.

artless charm

When is it sensible to use ingenuous instead of artless?

While the synonyms ingenuous and artless are close in meaning, ingenuous implies inability to disguise or conceal one's feelings or intentions.

the ingenuous enthusiasm of children

When would naive be a good substitute for artless?

Although the words naive and artless have much in common, naive suggests lack of worldly wisdom often connoting credulousness and unchecked innocence.

politically naive

Where would natural be a reasonable alternative to artless?

While in some cases nearly identical to artless, natural implies lacking artificiality and self-consciousness and having a spontaneousness suggesting the natural rather than the man-made world.

her unaffected, natural manner

When might unsophisticated be a better fit than artless?

The synonyms unsophisticated and artless are sometimes interchangeable, but unsophisticated implies a lack of experience and training necessary for social ease and adroitness.

unsophisticated adolescents

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of artless All that’s there is an artless effort to provoke outrage — Tony Hinchcliffe with the world’s strongest Boston accent. Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024 The effort of analyzing this video, a piece of artless misinformation, was beneath Abu Hamdan, who has dedicated himself to unveiling the violence of the world through the medium of sound. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024 The untenable toxicity of this artless warfare has led some researchers to rethink the ancient script—and flip it: know yourself, know your enemy. Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 15 July 2024 Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo are Patricia and Michel, the gamine and the criminal, simultaneously artless and deliberate. Ew Staff, EW.com, 7 May 2024 See All Example Sentences for artless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for artless
Adjective
  • But in an interview with ABC News, United Airlines' chief customer officer, David Kinzelman, said most travelers will be unaffected by the small number of cancellations, and the airline is aiming to have the least amount of impact on its passengers.
    Ayesha Ali, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Yahoo Newscontinued that when prey struck the web perpendicularly, the waves produced were unaffected by the stabilimenta.
    Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • For starters, even at 4 mm by 4 mm, the Utah array would be too big and clumsy a hunk of hardware for Science to implant in the eye or Synchron to thread through a vein.
    Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 6 Nov. 2025
  • What resulted is one of the most comic, counterproductive, and clumsy episodes in the long history of British efforts to deal with Ireland.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The real question is whether genuine mutual interest emerges from those preliminary conversations, many of which will take place in Las Vegas this week.
    Patrick McAvoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
  • For most of the year, tennis watchers have been bemoaning the lack of a genuine threat to Sinner and Alcaraz, but here Fritz had the latter on the rack.
    Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • People who are rude or unaware with receptionists can poison your culture, create unnecessary hierarchies, and drive your best people to leave.
    Jessica Neal, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2025
  • In a post on the AITA subreddit, the original poster (OP) explained that her sister, 34, who's always rude to her, has a 6-year-old son.
    Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • But to be honest, the 20th anniversary, in other people’s hands, would not have lured me back.
    McKinley Franklin, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
  • They’re further accused of honest services wire fraud, a noteworthy charge that has played an instrumental role in the sports world of late.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Under the new terms of the license, Chevron was authorized to pay fees and royalties to Venezuela in oil but not in cash, effectively reducing Chevron’s crude exports from the country by half, according to Reuters.
    Stefano Pozzebon, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Jet fuels and other petroleum products are refined from crude oil, and contain chemicals that are toxic to humans when inhaled.
    Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • According to Bruce Blair, a former Air Force launch officer and nuclear policy expert, between 1962 and the mid-1970s the most powerful digits on the globe were simple – eight zeros.
    Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
  • That something as simple as a COVID vaccine might improve survival in cancer patients receiving standard immunotherapy has taken oncologists by surprise — in a good way.
    Lisa Jarvis, Twin Cities, 8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Other government notices mentioned the size and rough location of the construction.
    Tamara Qiblawi, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Yams tend to be white fleshed with a rough, brown exterior.
    Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 7 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Artless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/artless. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.

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