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naif

naif

1 9.9
A person who trusts others too easily and lacks experience
  • noun
  • /nɑːˈiːf/
  • Offensive
translation icon : ingenuo (despectivo)
  • As a young artist, she was viewed as a naif who had yet to understand the complexities of the art world.
  • political naif
  • Only a naif

Examples

  • To me, he represents one of the important figures of myth: the naif who says, "But the Emperor has no clothes!"

    Blog text (20)
  • I am not a total naif on the subject.

    Blog text (27)
  • "Sol was calling me a political naif," Levin said.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I still cannot believe that the political naif who inhabits the WH does not understand the art of compromise.

    Blog text (12)
  • I'm convinced he made the final three, and he might well be this season's winner, but that wide-eyed naif persona just puts me off.

    Blog text (4)
  • A naif might ask why Minin hadn't gone to Lenin's Path Collective.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I don't embarrass, I don't get humiliated, and I don't mind being seen as a naif.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Many people considered him a naif for believing that everything in the city was fair and honest.

  • The naif traveler was amazed by the city's bustling markets, unaware of the scams that awaited him.

Synonyms

uninitiate
vsnaif
9.9

A person who is new and has little knowledge of a subject or activity

is inexperienced broadly in social or worldly matters
neoteric
vsnaif
9.9

A person new to a job or group

is inexperienced in life and society rather than only new to a role

Antonyms

5 7.7

A person who knows a lot about fashion, art, and good manners

3 3.5

Very skilled and knowing a lot about a particular area

Surface Forms

naif singular
naifs plural

Etymology

Naif comes from the French word naïf, which comes from a root meaning 'born' or 'natural', the same root as the English word native. So a naif was originally someone 'natural' and innocent, and today it means a person who is inexperienced in the ways of the world.