variants
or naif
as in naive
lacking in worldly wisdom or informed judgment
the senator, newly elected and still naïf, will learn soon enough how Washington really works
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variants
or naif
as in virgin
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of naïf
Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023
Colorful naif pictures by Katie Hickey and text arranged in substantial chunks make this perfect for browsing by young readers with an interest in engineering or architecture.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 12 Aug. 2022
Stephen Saito, Variety, 20 Mar. 2025
David himself is a generic naif whose sole distinguishing trait is a passion for music, curiously sung in unsubtitled Hebrew while the spoken dialogue is in English.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025
Rogan, wearing his persona as a babe-in-the-woods naif, listened to this nonsense in slack-jawed stupefaction.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Farrow, presenting in the early scenes as an utter naif, discovers the pleasures of running cons; LuPone, who shows up a hellion, develops a sensitivity and nurturing spirit to the lost soul who’s provided her character a home.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 13 Sep. 2024
Obama is neither an out-of-his-depth naif nor a reactive realist.
—Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2012
Angourie Rice plays our ostensible heroine Cady Heron as more of an earnest naif.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
Reasonable readers will arrive at varied opinions about the taste of all this—the facts are the facts, and the narrative pulses with empathy, but the tone at times resembles cosmic horror, as if Ehrenfest were a Lovecraftian naif driven mad after glimpsing an Elder God.
—Amy Brady, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2023
Sonny, the political naif, suddenly has mastered the procedures of the Texas House and turns them to his advantage.
—Shawna Seed, Dallas News, 12 Sep. 2023
Adjective
Most illustrators play up the coziness of the tale, what with children all snug in their beds dreaming of sugarplums and suchlike, but the friendly lines and marzipan colors of Ms. Beech’s naif illustrations take coziness to a new level.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023
Colorful naif pictures by Katie Hickey and text arranged in substantial chunks make this perfect for browsing by young readers with an interest in engineering or architecture.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 12 Aug. 2022
Noun
Both stand in stark contrast to the naif played by Daniela Komędera, who enjoys any prompts for activities and appears glad to be relieved of any opportunity to have to think for herself.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 20 Mar. 2025
David himself is a generic naif whose sole distinguishing trait is a passion for music, curiously sung in unsubtitled Hebrew while the spoken dialogue is in English.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025
Rogan, wearing his persona as a babe-in-the-woods naif, listened to this nonsense in slack-jawed stupefaction.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Farrow, presenting in the early scenes as an utter naif, discovers the pleasures of running cons; LuPone, who shows up a hellion, develops a sensitivity and nurturing spirit to the lost soul who’s provided her character a home.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 13 Sep. 2024
Obama is neither an out-of-his-depth naif nor a reactive realist.
—Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2012
Angourie Rice plays our ostensible heroine Cady Heron as more of an earnest naif.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
Reasonable readers will arrive at varied opinions about the taste of all this—the facts are the facts, and the narrative pulses with empathy, but the tone at times resembles cosmic horror, as if Ehrenfest were a Lovecraftian naif driven mad after glimpsing an Elder God.
—Amy Brady, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2023
Sonny, the political naif, suddenly has mastered the procedures of the Texas House and turns them to his advantage.
—Shawna Seed, Dallas News, 12 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for naïf
Adjective
-
She's got a squeaky clean image and is a little bit naive.—
Patrick Gomez,
EW.com,
26 Mar. 2025
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With Back on My Feet, people called me naive, and a pollyanna.—
Shimite Obialo,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
An olive oil that does not have defects and a free acidity level of less than 0.8 is considered extra virgin.—
Patty Weasler, RN, BSN,
Verywell Health,
26 Feb. 2025
-
The emperor provided Xu Fu with ships and the 3,000 virgins that the magician claimed were essential to the quest.—
Joe Kloc,
New York Times,
18 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Trump has said a repeal of the green energy credits from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act would save $921 billion over ten years.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Most auto and parts plants now under construction are partly funded with federal assistance from the Inflation Reduction Act, the green energy bill passed during the Biden administration.—
Chris Isidore,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
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According to human rights organizations, most were denied due process, innocents including children were detained, and hundreds were tortured in jail and died.—
Tracy Wilkinson,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Dec. 2024
-
Al-Qaeda’s attack on Sept. 11, 2001, which murdered about 3,000 innocents of every race, background and socio-economic class, left him somewhere between agnostic and satisfied.—
Jeff Robbins,
Boston Herald,
14 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Teeing Off in the Golf World While Johnnie-O wasn't conceived specifically as a golf brand, the sport was a natural entry point for the fledgling company.—
Erik Matuszewski,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
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The claim concerned the rushed dealing to infuse money into the fledgling league, a rush that deprived DCP of a chance to conduct the type of due diligence that might have spotted some of the problems that later surfaced.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The author came to Canada from England in 1923 as a 23-year-old greenhorn.—
Anton Money,
Outdoor Life,
15 Aug. 2024
-
Hence the herring, every greenhorn’s rite of passage on the Wizard.—
Ashley Boucher,
EW.com,
11 June 2024
Noun
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Made with a leather outer and 100 percent sheep leather lining, the shoes have a stunning glossy finish that is complimented by a nylon twill bow.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
28 Mar. 2025
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Those spruce trees had colonized fields once used for sheep farming.—
Jennifer Wolcott,
The Christian Science Monitor,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Also, #2 Sovereignty (3/1) for trainer Bill Mott is another Into Mischief colt coming off a layoff having faced progressively tougher competition while holding an advantage of having already raced 2-turns.—
Jay Ginsbach,
Forbes,
1 Mar. 2025
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The colt is such a prohibitive favorite among the field of nine the race is declared a non-wagering contest.—
Houston Mitchell,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Naïf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/na%C3%AFf. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
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