naïf 1 of 2

variants or naif

naïf

2 of 2

noun

variants or naif

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for naïf
Adjective
  • Wahlberg plays a holy fool in Boogie Nights, our naïve but well-endowed guide through the heyday of theatrical pornography and its decline into something cheaper and tawdrier courtesy of the triumph of VHS.
    Alison Willmore, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
  • The passions and dreams that drove the movement can seem inchoate, naïve, and contradictory.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • 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
Adjective
  • Clever and non-profane tee-to-green commentary should be allowed, just not when a player is standing over his ball.
    Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
  • For something a bit more whimsical, Watercolor Café pairs light breakfast and lunch fare—try the breakfast burrito, peanut butter deluxe toast, green dream smoothie, or housemade pop tart—with painting classes and creative workshops.
    Christine Chitnis, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • 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
Adjective
  • But their pitchers exploited enough batters on an inexperienced team that is now two losses from 100 for the season, and the Padres held on for a 3-2 victory over the White Sox on Sunday.
    Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Founders are often too eager to scale, or too inexperienced to evaluate talent, and the financial hit isn’t felt immediately.
    Anuradha Gupta, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Instead of applause, her afternoons are soundtracked by tractors and sheep and Britain’s famously fickle weather.
    Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2025
  • And as the sheep stood its ground, staring down the would-be herder, viewers online could not help but empathize with the retriever's retreat.
    Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Naïf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/na%C3%AFf. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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