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
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
With long hair and stubble, Fletcher is grungy and sweet, a seemingly free-spirited naif who also is, when the movie requires it, a font of Lone Star wisdom.
—Jim Kiest, San Antonio Express-News, 8 July 2021
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
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
With long hair and stubble, Fletcher is grungy and sweet, a seemingly free-spirited naif who also is, when the movie requires it, a font of Lone Star wisdom.
—Jim Kiest, San Antonio Express-News, 8 July 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for naïf
Adjective
-
But in the transactional world of Trump, Musk, and DOGE, the concept of career civil servants taking lower-paying, apolitical work to serve an intangible greater good is naive at best.—
Adam Chandler,
TIME,
20 Feb. 2025
-
The idea sounds simple, even naive: Fix the money, fix the world.—
Bryan Benson,
Forbes,
19 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
-
Red is for load, black is for line, white is for neutral, green is for ground, and blue is for connecting to another switch in a three-way configuration.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
19 Feb. 2025
-
The two French firms will develop two projects in the Netherlands that will generate 45,000 tons of green hydrogen produced using wind power.—
Chloe Taylor,Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
18 Feb. 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 Coyotes’ California Community College Athletic Association title added to the long and still-growing legacy of soccer in San Diego — a legacy that San Diego FC leadership hopes the fledgling organization can lead as the area’s highest-level team.—
Kyle Kensing,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Feb. 2025
-
Migratory ibises have a survival rate of between two and three fledglings per female, which is almost three times that of some nonmigratory populations.—
Nick Paumgarten,
The New Yorker,
10 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
-
The story, involving a group of sheep heading into the city to bring back their farmer, takes a back seat to an endless barrage of gags.—
Barry Levitt,
Vulture,
14 Feb. 2025
-
By the 16th century, the link to agriculture was established, with farmers singing to and blessing bee hives, fruit trees, crops, sheep and cattle to encourage a bountiful harvest.—
Stephen Castle,
New York Times,
13 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
-
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 3 Mar. 2025.
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