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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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
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
Who says Merrick Garland is a political naif?
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2022
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
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
Who says Merrick Garland is a political naif?
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for naïf
Adjective
-
Neither was it based on wishful thinking or naive optimism.—
Matthew Scogin,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
-
As that incident indicated, Oded was not naive about Palestinian terrorism.—
Gershom Gorenberg,
The Atlantic,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
Cooper is very sweet about Kacey’s virgin status, and their kiss is cute, too, nose and all!—
Christina Grace Tucker,
Vulture,
26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Megan Thee Stallion also showed up to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party with her breasts exposed, covered only by green nipple pasties to match her green gown.—
Jackie Strause,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Mar. 2025
-
The grant, part of former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act's $1.5 billion allocation for urban and community forestry, was intended to boost green spaces from New Orleans to Oregon, offering shade, cleaner air, and climate resilience to some of America's most vulnerable neighborhoods.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
The 57-year-old Chicago resident, founder of the People's Union USA, the fledgling advocacy group leading the campaign, expresses surprise at suddenly finding himself and his movement in the spotlight.—
Anne Marie Lee,
CBS News,
28 Feb. 2025
-
More than a few automakers have gone bust trying to make the best luxury car in the world, but almost as often the industry has seen fledgling manufacturers finally grow up, like when Toyota launched Lexus or when BMW introduced the 7 Series.—
Raphael Orlove,
Robb Report,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
Muslims mark the event by slaughtering sheep or goats.—
Reuters,
CNN,
27 Feb. 2025
-
Among Season 2’s changes, the role of Pete Plenty Clouds has been recast following the death of Cole Brings Plenty, who played a sheep herder in the first season.—
Cerys Davies,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Going to celebrate the Passover, Jesus chose to enter the city on the back of a colt, in stark contrast to the warhorses and chariots of Roman armies.—
Lynne Silva-Breen,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
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Hot Springs horseman Ted Bowman owns Speed King, a Volatile colt, whose next race at Oaklawn has not been determined, Moquett said, in a second post-Southwest workout.—
Bob Wisener,
arkansasonline.com,
12 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Naïf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/na%C3%AFf. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
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