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
Secularism requires a commitment to civil liberty, which rests partly on respect for civil disobedience—peaceful acts of conscience that challenge rules of law. If civil libertarianism is naïve, then so is the hope of secular government. Wendy Kaminer, Free Inquiry, December 2008/January 2009He exhibits a naïve sort of confidence when talking about the doubts surrounding him and the perceived slights in the draft run-up. Peter King, Sports Illustrated, 1 May 2006His crimes were described as mere bumps in the road, minor offenses committed by a man-boy described as innocent, naïve, trusting, a simple country boy who got lost in airports and was astonished to find out that he could order a pizza over the phone. Pat Jordan, Harper's, October 2004 a naive belief that all people are good a naive view of the world She asked a lot of naive questions. I was young and naive at the time, and I didn't think anything bad could happen to me. The plan seems a little naive. If you're naive enough to believe him, you'll believe anyone. See More
Recent Examples on the WebGonis and everyone else thinks the name was stupid, naive and inappropriate, and no one is sure why the University of Illinois students chose it.courant.com, 7 Mar. 2022 Amelie Zilber has also joined grown-ish season 5 as Lauryn, a naive freshman who's a little shy and awkward and overcompensates in an attempt to mask her insecurities. Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 17 Aug. 2022 The series will then show how that naive young woman became a conniving and formidable queen, who's played in the future timeline by British actress Samantha Morton. Emma Dibdin, Town & Country, 12 Aug. 2022 The policy of engagement with China that Biden advocated in 1979 is maligned as a colossal blunder dreamed up by naive ivory-tower elites. Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2022 In part, it's based on the fact that there's very few people who are immune-naive, so people feel rightly more impervious to a bad outcome.CBS News, 17 July 2022 Negotiating a prenuptial agreement, for instance, connotes bad faith, but forgoing one as Justin and Hailey Bieber did is considered risky and naive. Hanna Lustig, Glamour, 21 July 2022 It is still said a lot that contemporary African art is often naive and colorful, but this is not true. Y-jean Mun-delsalle, Forbes, 26 June 2022 Some opponents took to name-calling and attacked Collins for being naive or complicit. David Sharp, BostonGlobe.com, 24 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
French naïve, feminine of naïf, from Old French, inborn, natural, from Latin nativus native