variants
or naif
as in naive
lacking in worldly wisdom or informed judgment
the senator, newly elected and still naïf, will learn soon enough how Washington really works
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
or naif
as in virgin
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
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 naïf
Alison Herman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025
Rogan, wearing his persona as a babe-in-the-woods naif, listened to this nonsense in slack-jawed stupefaction.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Both stand in stark contrast to the naif played by Daniela Komędera, who enjoys any prompts for activities and appears glad to be relieved of any opportunity to have to think for herself.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 20 Mar. 2025
David himself is a generic naif whose sole distinguishing trait is a passion for music, curiously sung in unsubtitled Hebrew while the spoken dialogue is in English.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025
Rogan, wearing his persona as a babe-in-the-woods naif, listened to this nonsense in slack-jawed stupefaction.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Farrow, presenting in the early scenes as an utter naif, discovers the pleasures of running cons; LuPone, who shows up a hellion, develops a sensitivity and nurturing spirit to the lost soul who’s provided her character a home.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 13 Sep. 2024
Angourie Rice plays our ostensible heroine Cady Heron as more of an earnest naif.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
Reasonable readers will arrive at varied opinions about the taste of all this—the facts are the facts, and the narrative pulses with empathy, but the tone at times resembles cosmic horror, as if Ehrenfest were a Lovecraftian naif driven mad after glimpsing an Elder God.
—Amy Brady, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2023
Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023
Colorful naif pictures by Katie Hickey and text arranged in substantial chunks make this perfect for browsing by young readers with an interest in engineering or architecture.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 12 Aug. 2022
Adjective
David himself is a generic naif whose sole distinguishing trait is a passion for music, curiously sung in unsubtitled Hebrew while the spoken dialogue is in English.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025
Rogan, wearing his persona as a babe-in-the-woods naif, listened to this nonsense in slack-jawed stupefaction.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Both stand in stark contrast to the naif played by Daniela Komędera, who enjoys any prompts for activities and appears glad to be relieved of any opportunity to have to think for herself.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 20 Mar. 2025
David himself is a generic naif whose sole distinguishing trait is a passion for music, curiously sung in unsubtitled Hebrew while the spoken dialogue is in English.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025
Rogan, wearing his persona as a babe-in-the-woods naif, listened to this nonsense in slack-jawed stupefaction.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Farrow, presenting in the early scenes as an utter naif, discovers the pleasures of running cons; LuPone, who shows up a hellion, develops a sensitivity and nurturing spirit to the lost soul who’s provided her character a home.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 13 Sep. 2024
Angourie Rice plays our ostensible heroine Cady Heron as more of an earnest naif.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
Reasonable readers will arrive at varied opinions about the taste of all this—the facts are the facts, and the narrative pulses with empathy, but the tone at times resembles cosmic horror, as if Ehrenfest were a Lovecraftian naif driven mad after glimpsing an Elder God.
—Amy Brady, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2023
Noun
Most illustrators play up the coziness of the tale, what with children all snug in their beds dreaming of sugarplums and suchlike, but the friendly lines and marzipan colors of Ms. Beech’s naif illustrations take coziness to a new level.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023
Colorful naif pictures by Katie Hickey and text arranged in substantial chunks make this perfect for browsing by young readers with an interest in engineering or architecture.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 12 Aug. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for naïf
Adjective
-
Modern takes on the tankini and boy short offer nostalgia without being too naive and are also seen from Candice Swaenpoel’s Topic of C line or Hunza G’s colorful styles.—
Emily Mercer,
Footwear News,
27 June 2025
-
Yet such arguments are either geopolitically naive or disingenuous.—
Charles Kupchan,
Foreign Affairs,
20 June 2025
Noun
-
Hotlines in Ecuador and Argentina The statue of a virgin, la Virgen del Panecillo, looms over the city of Quito, the capital of Ecuador.—
Marta Martínez,
NPR,
8 June 2025
-
Two solutions are already out of the gate: a thread blended from virgin and end-of-life materials that Chanel and other brands are already using, and a recycled leather used to create reinforcements inside bags and shoes.—
Rhonda Richford,
Footwear News,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
For the first installment, U.S. photographer Alec Soth shot the lush green scenery and karst limestone mountains near the Li river in Guilin.—
Joelle Diderich,
Footwear News,
1 July 2025
-
The section behind the goal nearest Charlotte’s skyline was packed with waving green and red flags, drums and nonstop chants.—
Shane Connuck
June 30,
Charlotte Observer,
30 June 2025
Noun
-
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague accuse the 80-year-old political patriarch of carrying out a brutal war on drugs that killed possibly thousands of people, including many innocents and bystanders.—
Kathleen Magramo,
CNN Money,
17 May 2025
-
Some rights groups say the death toll could be as high as 30,000 with innocents and bystanders often caught in the crossfire.—
Kathleen Magramo,
CNN,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Similarly, fledgling democracies and countries in crisis have looked to the U.S. as a model nation, a symbol of hope and source of aid.—
Jennifer Boulanger,
New York Daily News,
28 June 2025
-
As an early example of this, Stephen Griffin, a constitutional law professor at Tulane Law School, points to the Quasi War, a limited naval conflict between the fledgling U.S. and its erstwhile Revolutionary War ally, France.—
Scott Neuman,
NPR,
23 June 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
-
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
-
The farm’s Dirt Lover cheese (a pure sheep’s milk, bloomy rind cheese with a vegetable ash coating) is a 2025 Community Choice Good Food Award winner.—
Jenna Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
30 June 2025
-
This is especially important at a time when the number of sheep in the United States has declined in recent years.—
Nathaniel Trojanoski,
Hartford Courant,
28 June 2025
Noun
-
Unleashed like a locomotive at the top of the stretch at Churchill Downs and Saratoga Race Course, this hard-closing colt ran past the front runners with relative ease.—
Danny Brewer,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2025
-
His fillies, not his colts, have been the stars of the prolific barn’s sophomore class.—
Kevin Modesti,
Oc Register,
7 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Naïf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/na%C3%AFf. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share