naive

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

adjective marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
adjective of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style
adjective inexperienced

Borrowed from French naïve, feminine form of naïf, from Latin nātīvus (“native, natural”). Doublet of native.

MILDRED--How naive age makes one! — The Hairy Ape, Eugene O'Neill
What strange, childlike, naive simplicity! — Astounding Stories, June, 1931, Various
Everybody laughed at the naive reply. — Walter and the Wireless, Sara Ware Bassett

naif

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