ingenue

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an actress who specializes in playing the role of an artless innocent young girl
noun an artless innocent young girl (especially as portrayed on the stage)
noun the role of an innocent artless young woman in a play

Borrowed from French ingénue, the feminine form of ingénu (“guileless”), originally from the Latin ingenuus (“ingenuous”).

For even now every day of her life seemed to this enjoying Welsh ingenue, packed with thrills. — The Boy with Wings, Berta Ruck
When attacked sometimes, Becky had a knack of adopting a demure ingenue air, under which she was most dangerous. — Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
It established her at once as an unstagey ingenue--simple, unspoiled, unacquainted with the formulas and formalities of the world. — Children of the Whirlwind, Leroy Scott

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