An example of naive is someone who believes that the moon is made of cheese because their mother said it was.
- unaffectedly or foolishly simple; childlike; artless
- not suspicious; credulous
Origin of naiveFr, feminine of naïf ; from Classical Latin nativus, natural, native
or na·&idie;ve also na·if or na·&idie;f
- Lacking worldly experience and understanding, especially:a. Simple and guileless; artless: a child with a naive charm.b. Unsuspecting or credulous: naive victims of the scam.
- Showing or characterized by a lack of sophistication and critical judgment: “this extravagance of metaphors, with its naive bombast” (H.L. Mencken).
- Not having experienced or been subjected to something, as:a. Not previously subjected to experiments: testing naive mice.b. Not having previously taken or received a particular drug: patients naive to antipsychotic medication.
Origin of naiveFrench na&idie;ve, feminine of na&idie;f, from Old French naif, natural, native, from Latin nat&imacron;vus, native, rustic, from natus, past participle of nasc&imacron;, to be born; see gen&schwa;- in Indo-European roots.
(comparative more naive, superlative most naive)