ingenuous

Related to ingenuous: trenchancy

ingenuous

simple; straightforward; open; naïve; artlessly frank; candid; innocent: a con artist with the ingenuous smile of a child

Not to be confused with:

ingenious – characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction: an ingenious device; brilliant; resourceful

in·gen·u·ous

(ĭn-jĕn′yo͞o-əs)

adj.

1. Lacking in cunning, guile, or worldliness; innocent or naive: I'm not so ingenuous as to believe everything he says. See Synonyms at naive.

2. Straightforward or frank; candid: "I must be so ingenuous as to own that the accounts are not so certain as to the exact time and place of his birth" (Memoir of Martinus Scriblerus).

[Latin ingenuus, honest, freeborn; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]

in·gen′u·ous·ly adv.

in·gen′u·ous·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ingenuous

(ɪnˈdʒɛnjʊəs)

adj

1. naive, artless, or innocent

2. candid; frank; straightforward

[C16: from Latin ingenuus freeborn, worthy of a freeman, virtuous, from in-² + -genuus, from gignere to beget]

inˈgenuously adv

inˈgenuousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•gen•u•ous

(ɪnˈdʒɛn yu əs)

adj.

1. free from reserve, restraint, or dissimulation.

2. artless; innocent; naive.

3. Obs. honorable or noble.

[1590–1600; < Latin ingenuus native, honorable, frank]

in•gen′u•ous•ly, adv.

in•gen′u•ous•ness, n.

usage: See ingenious.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	ingenuous - characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; "an ingenuous admission of responsibility" artless sincere - open and genuine; not deceitful; "he was a good man, decent and sincere"; "felt sincere regret that they were leaving"; "sincere friendship" naif, naive - 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" artful, disingenuous - not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness; "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the most disagreeable traits of his time"- David Cannadine; "a disingenuous excuse"
	2.	ingenuous - lacking in sophistication or worldliness; "a child's innocent stare"; "his ingenuous explanation that he would not have burned the church if he had not thought the bishop was in it" innocent naif, naive - 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"

ingenuous

adjective naive, open, trusting, simple, frank, plain, innocent, sincere, honest, candid, childlike, unsophisticated, unreserved, artless, guileless, unstudied, trustful He seemed too ingenuous for a reporter.
reserved, sophisticated, subtle, sly, devious, wily, crafty, artful, insincere

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ingenuous

adjective

1. Free from guile, cunning, or deceit:

artless, guileless, innocent, naive, natural, simple, unaffected, unsophisticated, unstudied, unworldly.

2. Manifesting honesty and directness, especially in speech:

candid, direct, downright, forthright, frank, honest, man-to-man, open, plainspoken, straight, straightforward, straight-out, unreserved.

Informal: straight-from-the-shoulder, straight-shooting.

Translations

cándido

ingénu naïf

ingenuo semplice sincero

ingenuous

[ɪnˈdʒenjʊəs] ADJ (= naive) → ingenuo; (= candid) → cándido

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ingenuous

[ɪnˈdʒɛnjuəs] adj (= candid) → ingénu(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ingenuous

adj

(= candid) → offen, aufrichtig, unbefangen

(= naïve) → naiv

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ingenuous

[ɪnˈdʒɛnjʊəs] adj → ingenuo/a

References in classic literature ?

It is also proper, that for performing these exercises the citizens should be divided into distinct classes, according to their ages, and that the young persons should have proper officers to be with them, and that the seniors should be with the magistrates; for having them before their eyes would greatly inspire true modesty and ingenuous fear.

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That is a classical line, young lady; and, being rendered into English, is, `a lad of an ingenuous countenance, and of an ingenuous modesty;' for this was a virtue in great repute both among the Latins and Greeks.

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I should have liked you better if you hadn't made that ingenuous appeal to my sympathies."

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'Ah!' retorted Dennis, shaking his head, with a kind of pity for his friend's ingenuous youth; 'but suppose the iron an't hot, brother!

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That of the latter was very highly polished, insinuating, and although far from unpleasantly so, yet slightly artificial; while that of the former was simple, ingenuous, and in the presence of Miss Henly was apt to be at times a little constrained.

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“I am delighted to meet with you, my young friend, for I think an ingenuous mind, such as I doubt not yours must be, will exhibit all the advantages of a settled doctrine and devout liturgy.

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His ingenuous delight in it was a delight to her, and a new and mutual love-thrill was theirs--because of a flower.

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With ingenuous frankness he spoke of what a wicked, ill-disciplined boy he had been, and impulsively drew up his cuff to exhibit upon his wrist the scar from a saber cut which he had received in a duel outside of Paris when he was nineteen.

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He had an idea that she knew how to take care of herself a good deal better than the ingenuous May imagined.

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He was not so ingenuous as in those days which now seemed so long ago at Heidelberg, and, beginning to take a more deliberate interest in humanity, he was inclined to examine and to criticise.

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"Did you ever know a more harmless, ingenuous, delightful young man in your life?"

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She leaned a little forward in her place, she passed with all the effortless facility of her ingenuous youth, into the dim world of golden fancies which the story of the opera was slowly unfolding.