欧博官网definition of Naïve by The Free Dictionar
na·ive or na·ïve (nī-ēv′, nä-) also na·if or na·ïf (nī-ēf′, nä-)
adj.
1. Lacking worldly experience and understanding, especially:
a. Simple and guileless; artless: a child with a naive charm.
b. Unsuspecting or credulous: naive victims of the scam.
2. Showing or characterized by a lack of sophistication and critical judgment: "this extravagance of metaphors, with its naive bombast" (H.L. Mencken).
3. Not having experienced or been subjected to something, as:
a. Not previously subjected to experiments: testing naive mice.
b. Not having previously taken or received a particular drug: patients naive to antipsychotic medication.
n.
One who is artless, credulous, or uncritical.
[French naïve, feminine of naïf, from Old French naif, natural, native, from Latin nātīvus, native, rustic, from nātus, past participle of nāscī, to be born; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]
na·ive′ly adv.
na·ive′ness n.
Synonyms: naive, simple, ingenuous, unsophisticated, natural, unaffected, guileless, artless
These adjectives mean free from guile, cunning, or sham. Naive sometimes connotes a credulity that impedes effective functioning in a practical world: "this naive simple creature, with his straightforward and friendly eyes so eager to believe appearances" (Arnold Bennett).
Simple stresses absence of complexity, artifice, pretentiousness, or dissimulation: "Those of highest worth and breeding are most simple in manner and attire" (Francis Parkman)."Among simple people she had the reputation of being a prodigy of information" (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
Ingenuous denotes childlike directness, simplicity, and innocence; it connotes an inability to mask one's feelings: an ingenuous admission of responsibility. Unsophisticated indicates absence of worldliness: the astonishment of unsophisticated tourists at the tall buildings. Natural stresses spontaneity that is the result of freedom from self-consciousness or inhibitions: "When Kavanagh was present, Alice was happy, but embarrassed; Cecilia, joyous and natural" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
Unaffected implies sincerity and lack of affectation: "With men he can be rational and unaffected, but when he has ladies to please, every feature works" (Jane Austen).
Guileless signifies absence of insidious or treacherous cunning: a guileless, disarming look. Artless stresses absence of plan or purpose and suggests unconcern for or lack of awareness of the reaction produced in others: a child of artless grace and simple goodness.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
naive (naɪˈiːv) or naïve; naïfadj
1.
a. having or expressing innocence and credulity; ingenuous
b. (as collective noun; preceded by the): only the naive believed him.
2. artless or unsophisticated
3. lacking developed powers of analysis, reasoning, or criticism: a naive argument.
4. another word for primitive5
n
(Art Terms) rare a person who is naive, esp in artistic style. See primitive10
[C17: from French, feminine of naïf, from Old French naif native, spontaneous, from Latin nātīvus native, from nasci to be born]
naˈively, naˈïvely, naˈïfly adv
naˈiveness, naˈïveness, naˈïfness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
na•ive or na•ïve (nɑˈiv)adj.
1. having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature; unsophisticated; ingenuous.
2. having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information; credulous.
3. marked by a simple style reflecting little or no formal training: naive painting.
4. not having previously been the subject of a scientific experiment, as an animal.
[1645–55; < French, feminine of naïf, Old French naif natural, instinctive < Latin nātīvus native]
na•ive′ly, adv.
na•ive′ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.