naif

/nɑ:'i:f/

Thân thiện

A young child shows a naif trust in the world.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Lacking experience, wisdom, or judgment; showing unaffected simplicity and a lack of guile or worldly experience. It describes a person, quality, or action that is innocent, unsophisticated, or credulous due to a lack of exposure to the complexities of the world.

2. Noun:

   • A naive or inexperienced person. It refers to an individual characterized by the qualities described in the adjective form.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:

  • His naif belief in the honesty of strangers often got him into trouble.
  • The artist's naif style was charming in its simplicity and lack of formal training.
  • She had a naif trust in the system that was soon shattered.

• Noun:

  • The seasoned politician saw the new intern as a complete naif.
  • In matters of finance, he was a total naif.

Advanced Usage and Notes

• Spelling Note: The word naif is a less common variant spelling of the more familiar naive. It is identical in meaning. The form naif is sometimes used to specifically describe art (e.g., ) that is deliberately simple, childlike, or created by a self-taught artist.
• Connotation: While it can describe charming innocence, it often carries a slightly negative connotation of foolishness or being easily deceived due to inexperience.
• Grammatical Note: As an adjective, naif can be used in the comparative and superlative forms: , . The noun form is typically used in the singular.

Variants and Related Words

• Naive (adj): The standard and far more common spelling of the adjective, identical in meaning to naif.
• Naively (adv): In a naive manner.
  • He naively accepted the offer without reading the contract.
• Naivety or Naiveté (n): The quality or state of being naive.
  • Her naivety was both endearing and worrying.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Innocent, ingenuous, guileless, unsophisticated, credulous, simple, artless, unworldly.
• Noun: Innocent, ingenu, greenhorn, novice, tenderfoot.

Antonyms

• Adjective: Sophisticated, worldly, experienced, cynical, shrewd, knowing, skeptical.
• Noun: Expert, veteran, sophisticate.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
   • a teenager's naive ignorance of life
   • the naive assumption that things can only get better
   • this naive simple creature with wide friendly eyes so eager to believe appearances

Noun

1. a naive or inexperienced person

Từ đồng nghĩa

• naive