ingenuous

adjective
UK: /ɪnˈdʒen.ju.əs/
US: /ɪnˈdʒen.ju.əs/

  1. Honest, sincere, and trusting, sometimes in a way that seems foolish or childlike.

    1. He has an ingenuous smile.
    2. Her ingenuous comments about the company's finances were quite revealing; it's clear that she didn't expect that the ingenuous answers are so sensitive.

  2. Showing a lack of experience or knowledge; innocent and unsuspecting.

    1. She gave an ingenuous reply.
    2. It was ingenuous of him to believe her story, given her history; such an ingenuous assessment ignored all prior indications.

Synonyms

naive innocent artless sincere honest guileless

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "ingenuous" in English means: Honest, sincere, and trusting, sometimes in a way that seems foolish or childlike., Showing a lack of experience or knowledge; innocent and unsuspecting..

The phonetic transcription of "ingenuous" is /ɪnˈdʒen.ju.əs/ in British English and /ɪnˈdʒen.ju.əs/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "ingenuous": naive, innocent, artless, sincere, honest, guileless.

Example usage of "ingenuous": "He has an ingenuous smile.". More examples on the page.