ingenue

noun

variants or ingénue
Definition of ingenuenext
as in angel
an innocent girl or young woman In her latest film she plays the part of an ingenue.

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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 ingenue In wrestling terms, Ghost plays the babyface ingenue to her more jaded collaborators’ heels. — Judy Berman, Time, 15 Apr. 2026 Zendaya reinvented herself from Disney Channel ingenue into bona fide superstar with her two-time Emmy-winning performance as teen drug addict Rue in seasons 1 and 2. — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 8 Apr. 2026 At one point, the Phantom and Christine, the ingenue and the object of his obsession, glide toward you in a gondola, crossing an underground lake. — Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 3 Mar. 2026 Seen on the likes of Pamela Anderson, Ariana Grande, and most recently, Vera Wang, the micro bang was first popularized in the 1950s by film ingenues like Audrey Hepburn. — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 6 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ingenue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ingenue
  1. angel
  2. innocent
  3. virgin
  4. fledgling
  5. greenhorn
Noun
  • In what room had her grandfather seen the angel warning him of June’s death?
    — Rachel Yoder, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The customer bought an angel figure, fashioned with tears on her face and arms holding her chest.
    — Emily Tarinelli, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
Definition of angel
Noun
  • Some innocents are coerced into false confessions, like what happened to the Central Park Five.
    — Rene Denfeld, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026
  • Over 5,000 deaths, most of them for innocents not driving trucks, in 2023 alone.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
Definition of innocent
Noun
  • It was aged for about three decades in ex-bourbon barrels, and then finished in four different cask types for three to six years—virgin Japanese mizunara oak, American virgin oak, Oloroso sherry, and Pedro Ximénez sherry.
    — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 24 July 2026
  • Erotic Teen Fan Fiction Movie By Morgan Lehmann A teen virgin writing erotic fiction online must collaborate with her school’s promiscuous quarterback when asked to write about her nonexistent love life for a publisher.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 22 July 2026
Definition of virgin
Noun
  • In return, Thao promised to secure lucrative city contracts for a fledgling housing company co-founded by David Duong and Mario Juarez, a two-time City Council candidate and longtime East Bay political operative.
    — Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 27 July 2026
  • The first 20 examples, numbered 001–020/00R, were reserved for supporters of François-Paul Journe's Tourbillon Souverain souscription program, whose deposits helped finance the fledgling manufacture.
    — Anthony DeMarco, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
Definition of fledgling
Noun
  • Flecks of mica and pyrite and who knows what, but only fools and greenhorns mistake it for gold.
    — John Archibald, Southern Living, 11 June 2026
  • The indestructible Gill, still strolling the fairways of the magazine, was more than welcoming to a greenhorn.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
Definition of greenhorn

Browse Nearby Words

ingeniousness
ingenue
ingenues
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Cite this Entry

“Ingenue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ingenue. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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