ingenuous

ingenuous

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ingenuus (“of noble character, frank”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdʒɛn.ju.əs/

Adjective

ingenuous (comparative more ingenuous, superlative most ingenuous)

1. Naive and trusting.
2. Demonstrating childlike simplicity.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 12

     "Do you mean to say you didn't leave your wife for another woman?"

     "Of course not."

     "On your word of honour?"

     I don't know why I asked for that. It was very ingenuous of me.

3. Unsophisticated; simple.
4. Unable to mask one's feelings.
5. Straightforward, candid, open, and frank.

Usage notes

Do not confuse with ingenious.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:naive

Antonyms

• disingenuous

Translations

Naive and trusting

German: arglos (de), freimütig, treuherzig (de), unverdorben Portuguese: ingénuo (pt) m

Romanian: ingenuu (ro), inocent (ro) Spanish: inocente (es) m, ingenuo (es)

unsophisticated, simple

Esperanto: simplanima French: ingénu (fr) m German: unbedarft (de), schlicht (de) Italian: ingenuo (it) m

Norwegian: Bokmål: troskyldig (no) m Romanian: ingenuu (ro) Russian: бесхи́тростный (ru) m (besxítrostnyj)

straightforward, open

Maori: pōaha

Anagrams

• unigenous