naïve

See also: naive

English

Etymology

From French naïve, feminine of naïf.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

naïve (comparative naïver or more naïve, superlative naïvest or most naïve)

1. Alternative spelling of naive.
   • 1922 September, Henry Rutgers Marshall, “The True, the Good and the Beautiful”, in J[ames] E[dwin] Creighton, James Seth, editors, The Philosophical Review, volume XXXI, number 5 (whole 185), New York, N.Y., Lancaster, Pa.: Longmans, Green, & Co., section II, page 453:

     But it is this naïve man—and philosophers for the greater part of their lives are naïve men—who makes the unrecognized introspective observations with which we are here concerned. It is the naïve man who divides the Real into the Beautiful, the True and the Good.

2. (rare) Feminine of naïf.
   • 1924 July, Paul Morand, “Paris Letter”, in Scofield Thayer, editor, The Dial, volume LXXVII, Camden, N.J.: The Dial Publishing Company, Inc., published 1924 September, page 241:

     He has his own definite qualities of composition: a naïf grace, a deft handling of forms, and the introduction of variations into landscapes, figures, or the eyes of American sailors. […] In this room, blue as a tunnel with stagnant smoke, naïve girls dance with the directors of musical reviews.

   • 1928 March 10, Ernest Boyd, “Readers and Writers”, in The Independent: A Weekly Journal of Free Opinion, volume 120, number 4058, New York, N.Y., page 235, columns 2–3:

     The passages are alike because (1) the person who is supposed to be writing is illiterate; and because (2) she or he is naïf and engagingly childish. […] Gertrude Stein may be falsely naïve, but what are two realistic satirists of American types, like Anita Loos and Ring Lardner, doing in such a category?

   • 2009, Richard Cody, “Fiduciary” (chapter III), in Perfect Witness: Being a Sequel to a Tale of 1951 Entitled ‘Neighbouring Eyes’, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 46:

     Don’t be naïve, Valija. You’re letting sexual feelings think for you, as usual. […] His worst pretence is a faith in good manners. This may make him, in some respects, a snob. But if any one of us is naïf, it is not I; it is he—and in the best possible way.

   • 2014, Brother Tom [i.e., Thomas Paonessa], “Essence”, in The Angel and the Rowboat, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, part II (The Problem), page 129:

     His faux naïf had her completely fooled. […] Profoundly naïve, she had absolutely no experience of pain or suffering or death and saw nothing in the odd reptilian-skinned stranger but the opportunity to make a new friend.

Usage notes

• Naive/naïve is most often treated as gender-neutral. Usage of both naïf and naïve, the latter specifically for women, following French, is rare.
• See naive § Usage notes for the use of the diaeresis.

Derived terms

• naïvely
• naïveness
• naïveté

Related terms

• naïf

Noun

naïve (plural naïves)

1. Alternative spelling of naive.

Further reading

• naïve, naive at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Anagrams

• naevi, Nieva, avine, nævi, navie, Évian

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.iv/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

naïve

1. feminine singular of naïf

Anagrams

• envia, vaine, veina