variants
or ingénue
as in angel
an innocent girl or young woman
In her latest film she plays the part of an ingenue.
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Recent Examples of ingenue
The sophisticated, ingenue hair was a far cry from the Pamela Anderson-esque hairdo Kardashian donned at Lauren Sánchez’s wedding on June 25.
—
Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 9 July 2025
Goodness knows, with the help of costume designer Nanette Acosta, and whoever did her hair and makeup, Anderson transforms into something of a brainy, idealized 1940s Hollywood or Broadway ingenue.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
Moore also won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding ingenue in a drama series (now called outstanding younger actress in a drama series) for her work as Frannie and Sabrina in 1988.
—Victoria Edel, People.com, 30 May 2025
And at age 64 (yes, really!), Tilda Swinton (in her pal Haider Ackermann’s collection for Jean Paul Gaultier Couture) appeared as icily cool and modern as any fashion ingenue could ever dream to be.
—Alison Edmond, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for ingenue
Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 9 July 2025
Goodness knows, with the help of costume designer Nanette Acosta, and whoever did her hair and makeup, Anderson transforms into something of a brainy, idealized 1940s Hollywood or Broadway ingenue.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
Moore also won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding ingenue in a drama series (now called outstanding younger actress in a drama series) for her work as Frannie and Sabrina in 1988.
—Victoria Edel, People.com, 30 May 2025
And at age 64 (yes, really!), Tilda Swinton (in her pal Haider Ackermann’s collection for Jean Paul Gaultier Couture) appeared as icily cool and modern as any fashion ingenue could ever dream to be.
—Alison Edmond, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for ingenue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ingenue
Noun
-
Voice of an angel Mikey Bustos emerged on the public stage as a singer, not an antkeeper.—
Katherine Laidlaw,
HubSpot,
19 Sep. 2025
-
On the runway, models such as Alva Claire, Iris Law and Lila Moss, daughter of Kate Moss, walked with punky prowess, boasting teased BumpIts and black eyeliner like an evil Austin Powers angel.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The slaughter of the innocents that follows the birth of Jesus in the Book of Matthew is depicted by limp infants that Gaudí modelled on casts of actual stillborn babies.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
-
This lesson plan includes no discussion of how, in the name of socialism and equality, Cold War despots in Russia, Romania, Poland and other Eastern Bloc counties slaughtered innocents, seized property and sunk their countries into starvation-level poverty.—
Betsy McCaughey,
Boston Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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According to Castro, nuns, who were supposed to be professional virgins—no Duke of Monmouth for them—could try bloodletting or enemas for a cure.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Shin Soon-ae died a virgin and believes her unfinished ghost business is to get laid.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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When Payzant left San Diego Unified in 1993 to become an assistant secretary in the fledgling Clinton administration’s Department of Education, the school board bypassed a national search and quickly appointed Pendleton his successor.—
Jemma Stephenson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Sep. 2025
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So, a fledgling unit of the service set out six months ago to unmask the layers of burner phones, changing phone numbers and SIM cards swatting American officials.—
John Miller,
CNN Money,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Flecks of mica and pyrite and who knows what, but only fools and greenhorns mistake it for gold.—
John Archibald,
Southern Living,
25 May 2025
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The indestructible Gill, still strolling the fairways of the magazine, was more than welcoming to a greenhorn.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
Noun
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Smit-McPhee plays a hapless Scottish tenderfoot who teams with Fassbender's conflicted bounty hunter to track down his true love in the American West.—
and Kevin Jacobsen,
EW.com,
21 June 2024
-
The tenderfoot Americans, with six rookies, eight guys yet to reach 30, and minimal scar tissue, won three of four foursomes in the morning to get to 9-3 and two of four fourball rounds in the afternoon to reach 11-5.—
BostonGlobe.com,
BostonGlobe.com,
25 Sep. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Ingenue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ingenue. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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