Naive Meaning
/naɪˈiːv/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjLacking worldly experience, wisdom, or judgement; unsophisticated.
adjNot having been exposed to something.
Sentence Examples
You must be very naive to be taken in by such a story.
Get rid of those kinds of naive ideas.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ tourist believed every word the scammer said without any doubt.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It would be ____ to believe that the new law will solve all of society's problems overnight, as real change usually takes a very long time.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French naïve, feminine form of naïf, from Latin nātīvus (“native, natural”). Doublet of native.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"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:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ tourist believed every word the scammer said without any doubt.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It would be ____ to believe that the new law will solve all of society's problems overnight, as real change usually takes a very long time.