Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of unsophisticated are artless, ingenuous, naive, and natural. While all these words mean "free from pretension or calculation," unsophisticated implies a lack of experience and training necessary for social ease and adroitness.

unsophisticated adolescents

Where would artless be a reasonable alternative to unsophisticated?

While in some cases nearly identical to unsophisticated, artless suggests a naturalness resulting from unawareness of the effect one is producing on others.

artless charm

When would ingenuous be a good substitute for unsophisticated?

The meanings of ingenuous and unsophisticated largely overlap; however, ingenuous implies inability to disguise or conceal one's feelings or intentions.

the ingenuous enthusiasm of children

When is naive a more appropriate choice than unsophisticated?

The words naive and unsophisticated can be used in similar contexts, but naive suggests lack of worldly wisdom often connoting credulousness and unchecked innocence.

politically naive

When might natural be a better fit than unsophisticated?

While the synonyms natural and unsophisticated are close in meaning, natural implies lacking artificiality and self-consciousness and having a spontaneousness suggesting the natural rather than the man-made world.

her unaffected, natural manner

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 unsophisticated Each of those words is unsophisticated alone and devastating when strung together. Joel Stein, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2025 Ertz and Gesicki are likely to want to play for contenders, while Conklin and Johnson will look to cash in on a fairly unsophisticated market. Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 11 Feb. 2025 Today’s political speeches and television dramas don’t denigrate Ottoman leaders as unsophisticated conquerors but adulate them as pioneers of a new civilizational order—fair in governance and more compassionate toward their subjects than their Western contemporaries. Asli Aydintasbas, Foreign Affairs, 19 May 2021 Commutations for unsophisticated folk who had been over-sentenced would have been defensible, but impunity for practitioners of political violence is what doomed the Weimar Republic. George Liebmann, Baltimore Sun, 23 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for unsophisticated
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsophisticated
Adjective
  • And if anyone was naive enough to imagine the U.S.-led tournament in 2026 would be free of such political baggage, then surely the increasingly public proximity of the Trump-Infantino relationship has dispelled those illusions.
    Oliver Kay, New York Times, 20 June 2025
  • Biography Ellmann-style was left looking hopelessly naive in its effort to understand the work by understanding its writer’s life.
    Eric Bulson, The Atlantic, 16 June 2025
Adjective
  • In his formal lecture to the Academy, Campbell offered some reflections on the simple science that gave rise to the treatment, and to its wide array of applications.
    Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 17 June 2025
  • While to some these screen-free devices may seem like a return to the early, simpler days of fitness trackers, Werring says the public is a bit more savvy than the step-counting obsessives of the 2010s.
    Andrew Williams, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Adjective
  • On July 8, U.S. soldiers escorting a train fired at crowds in Hammond, killing an innocent bystander.
    Robert Loerzel, Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2025
  • However, Vance’s spokesperson said the mix-up was an innocent mistake.
    Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 21 June 2025
Adjective
  • Houde said these mammoth animals are a primitive group of proboscideans ('elephantoids') from which modern elephants evolved.
    Joseph J. Kolb, Fox News, 18 July 2017
  • Many are primitive and remote, and don’t have restrooms or water.
    OregonLive.com, OregonLive.com, 12 July 2017
Adjective
  • After hatching, the immature cicadas or nymphs spend 17 or 13 years underground, feeding on roots, then emerge during the spring and transform into adult cicadas.
    Saleen Martin, USA Today, 14 June 2025
  • And babies younger than six months old—who are ineligible for vaccination because of their immature immune system—have the highest rates COVID hospitalization after adults aged 75 and older.
    Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 10 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Unsophisticated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsophisticated. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.

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