You said it-- not me:
naive or naïve (nä-êv') also naif or naïf (nä-êf') adjective
1. a. Lacking worldliness and sophistication; artless. b. Simple and credulous as a child; ingenuous.
2. Lacking critical ability or analytical insight; not subtle or learned: "this extravagance of metaphors, with its naive bombast" (H.L. Mencken).
3. a. Not previously subjected to experiments: testing naive mice. b. Not having previously taken or received a particular drug: persons naive to marijuana.
noun
One who is artless, credulous, or uncritical.
[French naïve, feminine of naïf, from Old French, natural, native, from Latin nâtìvus, native, rustic, from nâtus, past participle of nâscì, to be born.]
- naive'ly adverb
- naive'ness noun
Synonyms: naive, simple, ingenuous, unsophisticated, natural, unaffected, guileless, artless.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights reserved. |
