What (who) is naive - definition
LACK OF EXPERIENCE
Naïvité; Naïvity; Naïveté; Naivete; Naivity; Naivite; Naiveté; Naiive; Naivest; Naïve; Naive; Naïvety; Naïvete
naive
also naive
If you describe someone as naive, you think they lack experience and so expect things to be easy or people to be honest or kind.
It's naive to think that teachers are always tolerant...
...naive idealists...
Their view was that he had been politically naive.
= unrealistic
ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf, ADJ to-inf
• naively
...naively applying Western solutions to Eastern problems...
I thought, naively, that this would be a nine-to-five job.
ADV: usu ADV with v
• naivety
I was alarmed by his naivety and ignorance of international affairs.
N-UNCOUNT
Naive
·adj Having native or unaffected simplicity; ingenuous; artless; frank; as, naive manners; a naive person; naive and unsophisticated remarks.
naive
[n??'i:v, n?:'i:v]
(also naive)
¦ adjective
1. lacking experience, wisdom, or judgement.
2. natural and unaffected.
(of art) produced in a style which deliberately rejects sophisticated artistic techniques and has a bold directness resembling a child's work.
Derivatives
naively adverb
naiveness noun
naivety noun (plural naiveties).
Origin
C17: from Fr. naive, feminine of naif, from L. nativus 'native, natural'.
Wikipedia
Naivety
Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A naïve may be called a naïf.
Pronunciation examples for naive
1. very naive.
Venezuelan Human Rights _ Alfredo Romero + More _ Talks at Google
2. It's naive.
Making Sense of God - An Invitation to the Skeptical _ Tim Keller _ Talks at Google
3. I'm naive.
Good Morning, Mr Mandela _ Zelda La Grange _ Talks at Google
4. Now, am I being naive? Is it naive to think
ted-talks_1642_JonathanHaidt_2012S-320k
5. Human beings have models of the world, naive physics, naive
The Meta-Problem of Consciousness _ Professor David Chalmers _ Talks at Google
Examples of use of naive
1. They seemed naive then and they seem more naive today.
2. My fear is that the dynamics of the G8 summit involve too much of the naive leading the naive.
3. Picasso‘s Guernica is not naive about photography.
4. But the abstinence advocates seem dangerously naive.
5. Was there malevolent intent, or naive imbecility?