Artless,ingenuous, and naive all refer to freedom from pretension or calculation, but there are subtle differences in their uses. Ingenuous implies an inability to disguise or conceal one's feelings, while naive suggests a credulous lack of worldly wisdom. Artless generally indicates an appearance of utter naturalness, one in which a person is (or seems to be) innocent of the effect of his or her speech or behavior on others.
natural implies lacking artificiality and self-consciousness and having a spontaneousness suggesting the natural rather than the man-made world.
her unaffected, natural manner
ingenuous implies inability to disguise or conceal one's feelings or intentions.
the ingenuous enthusiasm of children
naive suggests lack of worldly wisdom often connoting credulousness and unchecked innocence.
politically naive
unsophisticated implies a lack of experience and training necessary for social ease and adroitness.
unsophisticated adolescents
artless suggests a naturalness resulting from unawareness of the effect one is producing on others.
artless charm
Example Sentences
Her simple artless charm won us over instantly. a genuine and artless girl
Recent Examples on the WebThis legal argument is a house of marked cards, and an artless one at that, but that doesn’t matter to Trump and company. Jonathan Stevenson, The New York Review of Books, 15 May 2020 On Tuesday, the small-screen vista was limited to artless shots of House impeachment managers and Mr. Trump’s lawyers at their lecterns, with an occasional overhead glimpse of the chamber thrown in.New York Times, 21 Jan. 2020 At 90 minutes or less, this movie’s flat acting, choppy conversations, artless cinematography and sub-David Lynch surrealism would be easy to dismiss.Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2019 These artless snapshots annoy Noah, the grandson of a famous photographer.BostonGlobe.com, 26 Sep. 2019 Polpette were artless spheres of cooked ground beef without enough salt or spice to give them life. Bill Addison, latimes.com, 11 July 2019 Brittany Murphy plays an artless, dorky pageant contestant named Lisa, and Amy Adams is Leslie, a contestant who occupies the obligatory role of slutty cheerleader. Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 5 July 2019 The lyrics are as unadorned as her pole-work is impressive, a juxtaposition of plain, artless language and strenuous performance. Billboard Staff, Billboard, 20 June 2019 The diction is simple, the writing artless; the world of the novel, told in a basic third-person voice, claustrophobic. E. Tammy Kim, The New York Review of Books, 7 Mar. 2019 See More