English Dictionary
Definition of “naive”
naive or naïve or naïf(naɪˈiːv
)
Definitions
adjective
- having or expressing innocence and credulity; ingenuous
- ((as collective noun; preceded by ( preceded by the) ⇒
only the naive believed him
- artless or unsophisticated
- lacking developed powers of analysis, reasoning, or criticism ⇒
a naive argument
- another word for primitive (sense 5)
Alternative Forms
naˈively naˈïvely naˈïfly adverb naˈiveness naˈïveness naˈïfness noun Word Origin
C17: from French, feminine of naïf, from Old French naif native, spontaneous, from Latin nātīvus native, from nasci to be born
Synonyms
View thesaurus entry
=
gullible,
trusting,
credulous,
unsuspicious
green,
simple,
innocent,
childlike,
callow,
unsophisticated,
unworldly,
artless,
ingenuous,
guileless,
wet behind the ears,
jejune,
as green as grass
Translations
- British English:
naive
If you describe someone as naive, you think they lack experience, causing them to expect things to be uncomplicated or easy, or people to be honest or kind when they are not.I was naive to think they would agree.naɪˈiːv ADJECTIVE I was naive to think they would agree.
- Spanish:
ingenuo
adj ingenua
- French:
naïf
adj naïve
- German:
naiv
adj
- Chinese: 天真的 adj
- Arabic: سَاذَجٌ adj
- Portuguese: ingénuo adj ingénua
- Russian: наивный adj наивная
- Croatian: naivan adj naivna
- Czech: naivní adj
- Danish: naiv adj
- Dutch: naïef adj
- Finnish: naiivi adj
- Greek: αφελής adj
- Italian: ingenuo adj ingenua
- Japanese: うぶな no_posp
- Korean: 순진한 adj
- Norwegian: naiv adj
- Polish: naiwny adj naiwna
- Brazilian Portuguese: ingênuo adj ingênua
- European Spanish:
ingenuo
adj ingenua
- Swedish: naiv adj naivt
- Thai: ไม่มีเล่ห์เหลี่ยม ไม่มีมารยา adj
- Turkish: saf adj
- Vietnamese: ngây thơ adj
Usage examples
The walls had been painted, she saw; murals whose naive rendering merely emphasized the passion with which they were felt.
Clive Barker, THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW (2001)If The Corporation were merely amateurish and naive , then perhaps we could just dismiss it.
Spiked (2004)Set in a prisoner-of-war camp presided over by kind, naive Nazis, it is a celebration of uniformed stupidity.
Globe and Mail (2003)He said it was naive to say the Iraq conflict did not have some effect on the economy.
Belfast Telegraph (2003)Many of the abstract textiles they used had a naive , almost ethnic look.
Churchill, Jane (ed.), Collins Complete Books of Soft Furnishings (1993)
