naive

CEFRC1

/naɪˈiːv/

adjective

Türkçe translations

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In plain English

Examples

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Also pronounced

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

Produced in a simple, childlike style, deliberately rejecting sophisticated techniques.
Lacking worldly experience, wisdom, or judgement; unsophisticated.
Intuitive; designed to follow the way ordinary people approach a problem.

In context

I am sixteen going on seventeen, I know that I'm naive
As a seasoned woman—of nineteen—I felt it was my place to tell each of these naïves that such plans were easier made than followed.
Animals entering shelters are either (a) immunologically naïve and susceptible to infection and development of disease if exposed to pathogens; (b) already immune […]

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The word in print, with each source given in full.

I am sixteen going on seventeen, I know that I'm naive
1965, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”, in The Sound of Music
Whether by design or driven by the force of circumstances, they have always directed their main effort toward gaining the support of this "elite," while the more conservative groups have acted, as regularly but unsuccessfully, on a more naive view of mass democracy and have usually vainly tried directly to reach and to persuade the individual voter.
1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 418
The salarians believed the genophage would be used as a deterrent, a position the turians viewed as naive. Once the project was complete, the turians mass produced and deployed it. The krogan homeworld, their colonies, and all occupied worlds were infected.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Krogan: Genophage Codex entry
Animals entering shelters are either (a) immunologically naïve and susceptible to infection and development of disease if exposed to pathogens; (b) already immune […]
2011, Lila Miller, Kate Hurley, Infectious Disease Management in Animal Shelters
By 1921 when Miró painted his key work, naive painting had been recognized by the avantgarde art world as a genre in its own right.
2006, Janis Mink, Joan Miró, →ISBN, page 33

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Borrowed from French naïve, feminine form of naïf, from Latin nātīvus (“native, natural”). Doublet of native.